I was quite proud of myself with the progress I've made with this blog especially in the last few months. I love my blog. For the past 3 years, this blog has been a part of me. I kind of consider it my happy place, and my public diary of my progression as a cook, and probably as a person. I did end up updating more than I thought that was possible with my schedule... and well, I have taken a break... It's my summer break, and all I'm doing is trying to explore and get inspired. I'm so lucky and grateful for having friends and family who share my love of food to accompany me on this journey... without them I'd probably just be sitting at home stuffing my face with whatever is convenient at the time... aka crackers and cookies, with a generous side of instant ramen... I've had some wonderful foods during my vacation, maybe too much wonderful foods... but they're going to be a good thing for inspiration for months to come:
Memorable Food and Drinks I've had from 6/6/12- 6/30/12
Yountville/ Napa Area- (2 days)
- Addendum- Fried Chicken, absolutely amazing... worth the drive, worth the hype... incredibly moist, but not so greasy, good portions... un-pretentious shack.. on a very pretentious street.
- Redd- Pork belly, foie gras plate, chicken with succotash and deep fried squash blossoms, perfected cooked chicken.. a truly memorable meal, wish I lived closer to Yountville.
- Bouchon Bakery- TKO... is really greasy!
- Chandon - Excellent drinks, customer service was a little off ... exclaiming that you're not fully "here" ... isn't the best thing to say to customers... nice grounds though, very peaceful, perfect ending to a girl's trip to Napa
- St. Supery- Person was nice, the wines, not so much... flavors were lacking in complexity... until she finally poured one that was complex.... with a hefty price tag... but of course.. I think it's funny when you're tasting 20 dollar wines to begin with... then the last one is a $65 a bottle...gee I wonder which one will leave that lasting impression?
- V. Sattui- Always a favorite... added Off Dry Riesling to my collection... now what should i celebrate with it? When I cement my first crown..?? ok. will do.
- Yello Sub - yello sub, good homemade bread... actually tasted like my homemade bread.... which means.. a tad too heavy on the yeast flavor!
- Tryyaki- My first drive thru asian food joint! Chicken teriyaki plate, flavor of the sushi was a little off, but overall edible
- Panera- Tuna sandwich and chinese chicken salad ... both very small portions
- Free State Bird Brewery- French dip and cheddar ale soup, excellent food and prices... fun atmosphere filled with frat boys on a Monday night/ pint night.. makes me want to go back to undergrad so badly!!!
- Sylas and Maddy's Ice Cream- Rock Chocolate Jayhawk with a waffle cone- Just had to get that flavor... haha I thought Westwood had a lot of collegiate pride.. I was wrong. Lawrence has been the biggest college fanatic town I've been to.. pretty cool actually!
- Dunkin Donuts- maple bar, breakfast wrap, and iced coffee, would have been perfect, but the person dropped the maple bar maple side into the bag... half of the icing stuck to the bag :(
- Goat Hill Pizza- pepperoni pizza with sour dough crust... a very flavorful crust, best delivery pizza I've had in awhile... err well I guess it's because I'm used to pizza hut and dominoes...
- Troya- beef wrap and salad, great deal for lunch, very filling, but a little too much of the wrap, not enough of the filling
- Bix- good mixologists, had 2 rounds of drinks, first off mixed drinks (I had the one with cherries) followed by martinis, snooty atmosphere... overall.. would I go back? Maybe in 10-20 years.. I felt so out of place..
- Cotogna- Burrata, fried okra, raviolo, sausage pizza, flank steak, and cherry trifle, good food, although I felt jiped for the one ravioli...they were a bit heavy handed on the salt that day... a nice teaser for Quince..... hm.. one day.. one day..
- Town Hall- bbq shirmp, jalapeño corn bread, pork chop , all very good, must find a recipe for that corn bread!.. found the cute little cast iron corn shaped things at Sur La Table... had to stop myself from buying random knick knacks my kitchen is already overflowing! I'm torn with the space though, it was super crowded, loud, and tables were too close together... on a random weekday for dinner... guess something's going well for this restaurant. Next time... I'll try the fried chicken.
- Chambers Eat and Drink- Pate ... hungry bar food at its finest..I do love my liver dishes :).. goes perfectly with a beer, had the pisco, and also a belgium beer, good pairings, nice interior and outdoor cabana, area is just a tad sketchy for my taste, especially at 2 in the morning...
- Hi Dive- rueben sandwich and fries, you can't really screw this one up, nice view, cute joint.. sentimental spot ...
- Doobu - nothing hits the spot more than having a combination soon tofu... this place was one of the better Korean restaurants in the city, the side dishes were lack luster though...
- Prospect- Duck- perfectly cooked maybe 10X better than the duck at Chapeau (they definitely overcooked it at Chapeau, and for the price/ pre fix dinner I expected a lot more!!) This place has great food... attentive service, and a nice airy modern space that's not so pretentious, easy no reservation needed place on a Friday night, perfect date night spot, There was a lot going on with that plate, a lot of quinoa, a little bit of greens, turnips, and a quinoa brittle. Too bad the portions were ridiculously small.. good portion control tho.. I definitely did not need to eat out any more.
- Caffe Vita- Iced americano, very good and cheap-ish coffee (for Americanos that is..) next to Voodoo donuts , only problem, their lid on the cup wasn't tight fitting (in which the barista did acknowledge it..) no spillage this time.. but I'm sure I was close to spilling all over myself or the rental... as usual.. at least I bought insurance for damages to the car :)
- Bijou Cafe- fried oysters sandwich, I think I prefer tasting the oysters raw not cooked
- Voodoo Donuts- McMinnville Cream, and Old Dirty Bastard, yeast donuts, warm... so freaking delicious, soft and fluffy dough, a little too sweet on the filling, but the old dirty bastard was just a good combination of oreos and peanut butter... just a tad awkward on the order..
- Portland City Grill- Basil Chicken and Blood Orange Mimosa, good views, but there's not much to view in Portland, food needs a little work, but drinks were good, hunting for a table was a bit annoying.
- Taproom Beer Room- hefenweizen , so many options! Wish I had time to try more...
- Aybla Gyros- Had to try out one of those food stands since it seemed like Portland ran on food stands... rather than sit down restaurants... Lamb Gyros... I normally don't eat lamb, but she said that lamb was their most popular... it was wonderful!
- Von's- The hotel bar/restaurant... gin martini... is still an acquired taste. I love gin...over the past hmm 6 months I've discovered the tastiness of gin in drinks.... but gin straight? ... I'll pass for now, unless it's really really good gin.
- Piroschky - Cheddar Cheese Roll, and Apple Tart, love them warm!
- Karma Martini Lounge and Bistro - Chicken panang curry, standard thai, nothing spectacular, too much sauce, not enough substance.
- Gorden Biersch - Sweet Tea , sad that the one in SF closed, didn't feel like having beer again so mixed drink it was!
- Starbucks- @ the original Starbucks, This is my usual- Grande iced coffee, room for cream, 3 packets of sugar in the raw
- Market Spice - I came with a list.. came out with more than enough spices... ground coriander, mustard, onion powder, cardamon, greek seasonings, chipotle, fleur de sel, hungarian paprika...I'm always in flavor heaven when I go there!
- Medina- white chocolate pistachio rosewater latte ... a mouthful!... however.. the flavors were confusing and overbalanced the coffee. Breakfast paella- curried rice with chorizo, and egg, one of the best dishes on the trip
- McDonalds- nothing like asking if they have poutine at 2AM... then getting a blank stare... and settling on regular fries.. I swear the funniest moments happens at the weirdest times of the day.
- Bada Bing Truck- POUTINE! ha! Found it. It reminded me to KFC gravy on fries with soft cheese? I don't know, it was good, really filling, but I wasn't hungry... just had to have poutine in Canada!
- Bella Gelataria- Toasted pecan (with a bit of maple syrup drizzle) and salted hazelnut, all BC flavors..both very delicious!
- Cactus Club Cafe- grilled tuna sandwich with caesar salad, tuna lacked flavor, and the dressing on the salad needed more acidity and flavor
- Rogue- salmon sandwich with fries, and 5 beers sampler, love the beer sampler, tried 4 BC beers, and 1 from Seattle... my favorite? The one from Seattle.. guess I'm used to the domestic beers
- Terra Bakery- apple tart foccacia, definitely going to try to make this one- with caramel glaze, sesame seeds, and thyme,
- Lee's Doughnuts- maple mini long john - so yummy when warm!
- JJ Bean Coffee - iced coffee, cold brewed, going to try to do ice brew at home now
- Freudian Sip Wine- Vancouver does not really participate in the "Happy Hour" thing... what?! ... and they don't sell alcohol at the super markets? ... and their wines are ridiculously priced... haha...we were sad...we had to go off of the drink specials... which actually weren't too "special." One thing I know... we are quite spoiled in California....
In conclusion, time to workout.
My favorite dental pictures of the trips :)
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| This picture makes me smile... why? It's a Class III hipster baby! The dental nerd in me loves finding things like this :D |
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