I failed to take a picture of this tawny port before I recycled the bottle. Somehow, I think you’ll make do. What you won’t do with is not recognizing what tawny means, which I just discovered while researching this post. Tawny ports are ports aged for long enough in wood that their coloring changes from red-purple to more of an orange-yellow shade that is called tawny. I had no idea! I thought tawny meant they used a method similar to white wine, leaving out the skins, to achieve the different color, and I didn’t like the first few I tried so I swore them all off until now. Luckily, this wine taught me that tawny is a port style I can embrace, even though I’m still confused that it was closer to purple in color than that tawny shade.

Its nose was typical for a port, full of fig, spice, and alcohol bite. The taste was also typically port with lots of that ripe, juicy, seedy fig. It was thin-bodied with some coffee notes and fleeting dark chocolate. There was perhaps a little tamarind in the mix as well. One might call that an odd combination of flavors, but it worked quite well.

Other than the potential tamarind note, it was . . . typical. Because I enjoy port a great deal, typical means rather good in this case. In fact, I’ve had a bad string of cheap ports lately, so I was impressed by this bottle that the husband brought home from our wine shop for Christmas. I look forward to sipping it again!

Other Bloggers’ Thoughts:

Wine Peeps:

Deep garnet color. Nice nose with black plum, caramel, and toffee aromas. Black plum, toffee, caramel, honey, and raisin come through on the palate. Medium sweet and medium to full-bodied. Well-balanced with good complexity and a long, smooth finish.

Hired Belly:

The less expensive Taylor Fladgate 10 Year Old Tawny also has lots of personality, with some fig notes and nutty tones.

Crazy Palate:

Prunes and play-doh. If it weren’t for the cigar I just finished, there would surely be more to say.

Reviewed 23 Jan 12.

Vit Goal Tofu is a Korean restaurant hidden away from street view off Highway 55. I enjoyed the dark woods of their interior, placing it perhaps a notch up from many other Asian joints for ambience.

Don’t expect much for service–I don’t think we had one word spoken to us for the entire meal, but I don’t really mind that, although I mention it because I know some of you do! The menu covers a range of Korean fare with an emphasis on soups. To expose my cards, this was the first time I’ve eaten out at a Korean restaurant, so I may not be the best judge of the food. My dining companion is a big fan of Chosun OK, and she noted that the menu was very similar but Vit Goal definitely had a stronger soup selection.

Instead of water, you’re served a cool tea by Vit Goal’s staff when you sit down.

It had toasted rice notes, which I love in tea. We were there at lunch, and we were served a full range of Korean pickles to accompany our meal.

It included lightly pickled cucumbers, bean sprouts, and kimchi. I thought the cucumbers were great, but the bean sprouts and kimchi were both too limp for my taste, and the kimchi could have been a lot spicier.

Kimchi close-up.

My friend decided on the seafood soup, which looked very, very appealing.

She enjoyed it enough to want to come back and try other soups there, but she didn’t like having to take off the shrimp shells and a head. That’s a personal preference of course, but one I agree with for soup. It also came with clams and oysters.

Wanting to try both appetizer and entrée, I decided on a lunch bento box option.

Rice, salad, a few small pot stickers, and sliced beef in a sweet, delicate sauce completed the box. The lettuce swam in a thick, creamy, and plain dressing. The rice was standard. The pot stickers were my favorite item on the menu—stuffed with a good level of filling and not at all greasy.

My friend preferred Chosun Ok to Vit Goal Tofu, but again, she did think it worthwhile to come back to try more soups. I was less impressed, although I do like that they served tea, the cucumber pickle was good, and the pot stickers were worthwhile. Ultimately, too much of the meal was mediocre for me to want to pay the prices to return. Perhaps I need to give that Chosun OK a shot so I can finally have Korean BBQ from a restaurant. One of my best college friends swears that the BBQ she makes pales in comparison to the real stuff, but I’m not so sure.

Reviewed 20 January 12.

Frankie’s had soft, yellow lighting, brick walls and a very personable house staff. Like all the other restaurants we went to this weekend, they offered a variety of dishes of varying portion sizes: meat plates, cheese plates, small vegetable sides, single crostini orders, small plates of soups and salads, sandwiches, and large entrees.  I started with a Manhattan that Mike, one of our friends, highly recommended it at Frankie’s.

For a first course, I ordered a ricotta and prosciutto crostini.

Their ricotta is dreamy. Definitely order a crostini if you don’t choose an entrée with ricotta in it, because you don’t want to miss out on trying it. For my entrée, I decided on meatballs made with pine nuts and raisins that were served with the house marinara.

The sweetness of the raisins made the dish for me, enlivening the meatballs. The marinara was standard.

We waved off dessert at Frankie’s, because why have all our fun in one spot? Instead, we ended up at the Chocolate Room, a darkly lit dessert joint that specializes in chocolate, of course. They have about 4 signature desserts and offer a range of cakes, ice cream, and floats. Ben and I decided to split the black bottom butterscotch custard, one of the signature options.

Dark chocolate hides beneath that delicious custard, which was amazing. What sold us, though, was the coconut whipped cream on top. Ben and I rarely say no to coconut, and it went wonderfully with the rest of the dessert.  At that point, it was time to catch a taxi and head off to the show!

Whew, what a show! The musical was at the Al Hirschfield theater, and we had a great time.  But we were thirsty afterward so back to Brooklyn we went, this time getting let off at the Clover Club. It’s the sort of club that takes their classic cocktails seriously, filling the long drink list with explanations of different cocktail categories like punches and flips.  They do offer food—their potato chip bowl with an herbed crème fraiche dip was delicious, and the salty and sweet spiced almonds were eaten in record time. However, the drinks were our priority, and I dove right in with the Auto Bahn Bahn.

Rye whiskey, maraschino, absinthe, and bitters are the ingredients, and it made an elegant, stiff drink. My second drink was not as delicious, but it was certainly interesting enough to keep me happy.

I don’t know what it was called, but it was a drink made with aged rum and maple syrup, and it was too thick overall. The flavors were rich and deep, but it’s not something I’d order again—and I certainly can’t since I can’t remember its name!

Our Brooklyn food tour concluded with bagels at a shop just around the corner from Mike and Pam’s place on Sunday morning. La Bagel Delight serves up a range of fast eats, and they stare you down if you aren’t ready to order fast, too!  The bagels come with heaping mounds of cream cheese—seriously, like a pint’s worth each. Take it home and put two-thirds of the cream cheese in Tupperware to last you through the week!

Thus endeth our Brooklyn food tour. Delicious food was had, and I was struck by how similarly the restaurants designed their menus and by how much New Southern cooking (for lack of a better tem) had infiltrated those menus. Another interesting fact was that most the places we went had WC written over the bathrooms rather than restroom or a simple ladies or men. Perhaps they feel a stronger connection to the old country in Brooklyn? Who knows?! It was a fun little quirk of the area, and Brooklyn is a great place to dine and drink.

“I’m delayed,” Tom said over the phone. Celia could barely hear him with the thunder on her end of the line and the airport loudspeaker playing an endless stream of announcements in Spanish, a language she didn’t understand, on his. The announcer’s voice sounded ethereal and discordant at the same time, like a slightly off-tune harp being plucked.

“I’ll be home tomorrow,” he continued. “Don’t get bent out of shape, okay?”

What was a strange thing to say. She never complained when Tom was delayed.

You can read the rest at Flashes in the Dark here. Perhaps these photos will help you with the atmosphere for enjoying She Could Be Me.

The walk toward Chez Mer:

Celia’s drink at Chez Mer:

I can’t pick anything up from the nose of this merlot, but I’m not complaining. It’s a delicious wine. It’s thin-bodied, very smooth, and just to the right of dry. The prominent berry flavors are present in equal parts of cherry, raspberry, and strawberry like a fruit punch blend. A mellow cocoa accents the berry bounty, helping it all glide down more easily. Small traces of leather and spice round out the glass.

This is definitely a merlot worth trying. I may just keep a few around.

Other Bloggers Thoughts:

Cheap Wine Finder on the 2007 vintage

The color is a see-thru, shiny cherry red. The nose is interesting, some cigar box, a bit of leather, blackberry, plum and smoky bacon fat; I was not expecting that from a $4.99 wine. This a nice, chewy Merlot, not fruit forward like the majority of wine in this price range. There is blackberry and raspberry, vanilla, along with a harder edge of tobacco and Christmas spice. There is a decent is berry and vanilla finish.

Well, I wasn’t expecting a 5 buck Napa Merlot is be a real Napa Merlot. I am sure there are better Napa Merlot’s out there, but the Napa River at 1/10 the price is a solid effort.

 Reviewed 10 Jan 12.

But this blog isn’t about entertainment—it’s about food and drink! And we partook of plenty of that in our two days in Brooklyn. We start in DC, though, because that’s where we picked up our friends Adam and Rebecca, who joined us for the trip. These pictures are horrible (bad cellphone, bad!), but you really ought to check out Buzz in Arlington, a coffee shop and bakery that offers some awesome wares.

They are mostly known for those fabulous baked goods that looked so much more amazing than those photos show. But we were there for breakfast, and folks, you need to be there for breakfast, too. They make fresh waffles, and they mix bacon and toffee into the batter.

It’s the best idea ever! You absolutely do not need syrup to go with Buzz’s waffles because the sweetness is already baked in from the toffee bits. Combined with the salty bacon taste and perfectly crisped batter, it’s delicious.

We did not stay in DC, however, but continued up the Eastern Seaboard to New York City, staying in Brooklyn at the lovely home of two of Adam and Rebecca’s friends. They were wonderful hosts and took us on many walking excursions in the neighborhood to fabulous food and drink spots.

Walking the streets of Brooklyn

I didn’t take any pictures our first night at Buttermilk Channel, but I can assure you that the squash tart and cauliflower soup were delicious. I also had the Velvet Jack, a cocktail made with Laird’s applejack, Velvet falernum, Luxardo, and lemon juice. It was tasty, but I preferred their sazerac overall.

Buttermilk Channel’s menu caught my attention because the types of dishes offered were in the same vein as what’s popular here in the Triangle—Southern-inspired meals that focus on healthier preparations using local meats and produce.  Chicken and waffles is a signature item on their menu. Also interesting to me was that they offered a small menu overall of small snacks, small plates, large plates, and charcuterie and cheese plates. Every single restaurant we went to this trip had that same breakdown of menu items regardless of the cuisine they offered.

See those menu categories? They were the same everywhere!

The next morning, Colonie was our choice for brunch. This is when I learned a fabulous fact about the Brooklyn brunch scene: it doesn’t start early! We arrived shortly after Colonie opened at 11 am, and there was no line and plenty of empty tables. I was shocked! In my experience, brunches get slammed in the midmorning hours, and if you don’t want a long wait, you need to arrive before 9 am, which means I rarely actually make brunches because I’m a night owl. Colonie was only close to filling up after we left an hour later. Brooklynites, I approve of your sleeping-in tendencies. Bravo.

The atmosphere was lovely at Colonie, and the wall of herbs that you pass on the way to the open kitchen and back of the restaurant adds a pleasant burst of green to the joint.  We started with a baked goods basket and a serving of sweet monkey bread for the group.

Dark chocolate brioche, lemon muffin, and a donut muffin.

Their monkey bread, which was basically a giant cinnamon roll.

Both baked good selections were gobbled up, but the monkey bread definitely earned the highest accolades. For the main entrees, my husband enjoyed his duck hash, and the (surprise! Southern influence!) shrimp and grits are a favorite of our hosts, Pam and Mike.  I opted for the leek and gruyere scramble.

It was good, but the leek and gruyere did not impart much flavor, which disappointed me. The french press coffee did not, however! Restaurants with good coffee are always worth noting.

After that meal, it was time for a stroll toward the water to see the view of Manhattan.

Making our way toward the waterfront. It was freezing!

Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge

Panorama of the view

This was a wonderful view. Click on the photo for the full-size view. The Statue of Liberty is on the left and the right side takes you across the Brooklyn Bridge.

That’s enough for this blog post! The next one will include dinner at Frankie’s, dessert at the Chocolate Room, and aftershow drinks at the Clover Club.

I lost six years of my life. Okay, I’m being a tad dramatic. I lost six years’ worth of word processor documents. They’re gone. They left for the great recycling bin icon in the sky and some jerk emptied it. I’m the jerk.

A few years ago, I decided the old college laptop had to go. It had been wacky since my roommate borrowed it for a night of feverish essay typing and spilled a mug of coffee on it. The keys sank down like molasses when you pressed them and came up 1. . . 2 . . .3 seconds later with a loud click. The down arrow key would possess the cursor, sending it on a race down the monitor, which no control-alt-delete combination could halt.

If your interest is peaked, read the rest at the Muffin Blog! And for your visual pleasure, I give you kitten Verdandi expressing the same rage at dirty laundry as I felt when I realized the files were gone forever.

The District
410 Blackwell Street
The American Tobacco District
$6–$11

Head inside the glass doors by the waterfall at the bottom floor of the Fowler Building in the Tobacco District, and you’ll find the District, a restaurant only open on Thursdays and Fridays from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm for lunch and from 7:30 am to 10:o0 am for breakfast (edited 2/3 to update hours and add breakfast!).


The Fowler Building is also the home of the Art Institute of Raleigh-Durham, and their culinary program is why the District exists in the first place. It’s a training ground for future chefs and a means for them to put what they’ve learned into practice for a few months at a time. The District is only open for part of each semester, and the husband and I decided to try it last Thursday on its opening day with this group of students.

Keep in mind that everything is student-run here, so be forgiving! The wait staff is also comprised of chefs-in-training, and they rotate with the back of the house each month so they can all experience all aspects of restaurant operations during a meal rush. The menu is small, consisting of about 5 appetizers and salads, 5 sandwiches, 3 entrees, and 3 dessert options.

It will stay the same throughout the semester. Worth noting is that they serve Joe Van Gogh coffee, and it was great! So many restaurants serve bad coffee, so I always celebrate the exceptions to that.

We started with the crab cakes, which were served with a red pepper remoulade. They were probably the best dish we had and delicious.

They were jam-packed with crab, fried nicely, and had a great kick from the diced yellow and red peppers inside. The remoulade was also good, though the salad was overly dressed with a strongly lemon vinaigrette. Those patties, though, they were wonderful.

My husband’s tuna melt sandwich was a simple affair—grilled white bread, lettuce, tomato, and swiss cheese that wasn’t melted.

He was okay with it, but probably wouldn’t order it again. At $7, it’s not a bad deal, but a little more imagination would have been nice. Personally, I was sorely tempted by the Asian short rib entrée but decided that the shrimp tacos were more up my alley, being as I’ve only recently started enjoying ribs.

First, the negative: they don’t make their tortillas, so that sacrifices some of the quality of a taco dish, but they do fry the chips in house (and the potato chips, too). The shrimp were cooked just right, and I enjoyed the unexpected and somewhat southern take on tacos—they were served with tomato, lettuce, very thinly sliced and grilled green and red bell peppers, and a green chile salsa that tasted like chow chow. Definitely don’t order them expecting taqueria-style tacos, but I rather liked the interesting take on the dish. The guacamole was some of the best I’ve had in the area, heavy on the lime and cilantro.

We passed on dessert, but what they had is worth mentioning. You can order bananas foster with vanilla ice cream, and they will prepare it tableside for you. Another patron had it while we were there—talk about a fun spectacle while dining! They also offer flourless chocolate cake and a changing ice cream flavor. This day it was cobbler themed with peach bites mixed into spiced vanilla ice cream and topped with crumble. I almost talked myself into it, but I was really full.

The District is a fun restaurant if you need a change from the Tobacco District’ above-ground options and you don’t mind being a training ground for cooking students. They could do with some better quality ingredients in terms of bread and tortillas, but I definitely recommend those crab cakes and the dessert sounded great. Give them a go and help these students gain the experience they need.

Reviewed 26 Jan 12.

L’Uva opened in the American Tobacco District last year, replacing a sushi restaurant that didn’t seem able to adapt to the crowds from the Durham Performing Arts Center. In its place is an upscale spot that focuses on using local ingredients to bring together Italian dishes that stray from your standard meatballs and marinara.

I’m sure the large patio area is a draw when the weather is warmer, but I was surprised by the late lunch crowd during the day. We arrived about 12:45, and the space was mostly empty, but many tables were full by the time we left close to 2. The picture doesn’t capture it well, but I’d describe the interior as full of light with modest touches of minimalist décor and attractive, red-cedar-colored wood.

L’Uva makes all their pasta in-house, but both the husband and I were in the mood for something in the sandwich vein. Luckily, they offer a few panini in addition to their pastas, entrees, salads, and hefty list of side dishes. My husband had the roast pork, chicken, and smoked bacon panini on focaccia. It came with an adequately sized portion of potato chips.

He thought it was good. Never being one to say no to variety, I opted for their light lunch, which is a half sandwich paired with either the soup of the day (an Umbrian potato soup), penne with marinara sauce, an arugula salad, or a scoop of gelato. I chose the arugula salad.

The sandwich is called a Toscano, and it’s made with salami, provolone, arugula, sundried tomato, and Italian bread. It was delicious, though I think I could taste a bit of metal from the sandwich press—not the best aftertaste ever. The salami was wonderful, but the vibrant sundried tomatoes were definitely the stars of the sandwich. The salad was also tasty, especially the garden-fresh arugula. It was dressed in a fig and balsamic vinaigrette and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds, sliced almonds, and ricotta salata. I found the crunch of the almond and pomegranate seeds together to be a bit redundant, but the flavors combined well.

We decided dessert was on the agenda and chose a scoop of the pistachio gelato ($6).

I was torn between loving the flavor of the pistachio—it is so good in dessert form—and finding the gelato rather too icy and almost a little pasty in texture.

I hope to be back to try their pastas, and I’m sure I’ll manage it sometime before a DPAC show or meeting the husband for lunch again. It was also nice to see familiar faces from Revolution’s wait staff. They are sister restaurants, after all, and there were definite similarities in cooking style and atmosphere, even though they have entirely different focuses. I don’t think L’Uva is up to Revolution’s standards quite yet, but I’m confident it can get there.

Reviewed 19 Jan 12.

This week, I’m directing you to an essay I wrote for our local independent newspaper, sensibly named the Independent Weekly, or the Indy if you’re a local. The Front Porch column is open to readers to send in 500-word essays on any topic, and it’s often a great place to get a sense of what others in the community are thinking about or just taste a little slice of someone’s life. This week, it’s my life you can dig into, or at least my opinions on the running craze and the constant fundraisers around us. Here is your teaser:

On Facebook, I complete the circle of life every day by reading the status updates of friends and acquaintances. Births, weddings, deaths, more births: They’re all there on display. Lately, it seems, there’s a new element of living that I’d previously neglected. I’m talking about races, the running kind—anything that ends in “-athlon,” “-K” or red-faced racers clutching their stomachs as they breathlessly pass a finish line.

Ostensibly, it’s both the method of choice to raise money for every known charity and the trendiest way to announce a transition from out-of-shape blob to exercise hound. Watching from the sidelines, it’s a little bewildering . . .

For the rest of the Front Porch, either pick up a free copy of the Indy at pretty much any coffee shop and many local businesses or head over to the web version. Thanks for reading!

It’s been over a month since I tried the Southern Hot Toddy at Alivia’s Durham Bistro, so don’t be surprised if it was just a passing winter’s fancy on their drink list. It was made with Jim Beam Bourbon, orange wedges, sugar, and hot herbal tea.

Well, it was supposed to be made with those ingredients but the one I had definitely was not herbal tea—I think it was a Lipton black tea bag, if I remember correctly. That’s fine—I like black tea just fine—but it did make a difference in terms of expectations and quality. The flavors were nicely proportioned, however. The orange wedges were key to blending the bourbon taste in with the tea. Make sure you don’t let the tea steep too long, or those proportions will be thrown out of whack.

The Southern Hot Toddy wasn’t revelatory, but it was an interesting change and hit the spot that evening. If a better tea were used, I’d think of it much more highly.

Reviewed 17 Dec 11.

Nanotaco has been reviewed by multitudes of other bloggers—I’m always behind the curve in trying out new places. However, this sometimes gives me the chance to weigh in on differences of opinions on a newer spot, and the quality of Nanotaco’s margaritas is one of those local debates, especially in Carpe Durham’s comments. Some people think they are from a mix, some think they are too sour, some think they aren’t sour enough, and some think they are the perfect ratio of sour to sweet. So forming my own thoughts on the Nanotaco house margarita was high on my priority list for my first trip. Also high on that list was trying their torta, because I’ve been on a search for the perfect once ever since I arrived in Durham. That’s one quest that may now be over.

I love the iguana beckoning you into Nanotaco, and the red exterior is inviting to me. Inside, it’s mainly yellow with the chalkboard menu dominating the wall. Some people have mentioned difficulties with the menu set up, but I liked it and didn’t have any problems figuring out what to order.

Ingredients are locally sourced as much as possible, and the biggest draw is probably the types of meats they offer for fillings. It’s not just chicken or beef like Mex-Am fare, but it doesn’t stick with only more traditional meats like barbacoa, al pastor, and lengua, either. For an extra $2, you can opt for fillings that play more with Southern themes like crispy pork belly or braised hog jowls, and they are called the dirty meats on the menu. They also have a salsa bar with red, green, and pico de gallo options as well as pickled jalapenos and onions, limes, radishes, and a coleslaw option. Of the salsas, the red option was pretty tasty and packed with dried, roasted pepper flavor. I’d have like more peppers in the pico de gallo. You get a handful of chips with any order, and they were good, but not outstanding in comparison to other options we have in Durham—La Salamandra is still winning in that department.

Of course, I started with that margarita, determined to weigh in on the debate.

And . . . I don’t have much to offer. It was an average margarita. I think it’s a freshly prepared sour mix rather than a bottled one. I’d drink another, and I suspect it’s the type where the tequila sneaks up on you, but it’s not a margarita I’ll be craving anytime soon. I’d call it a typical house margarita.

As for food, my husband had a burrito that comes with meat, rice, and beans.

He enjoyed it and the smoked duck he chose for his meat. Our friends both tried the three taco option instead, choosing a different meat for each one.

They thought the flavor of the smoked duck was too overpowering, but the hog jowl was highly praised as reason enough to come back on its own. They also mentioned that there was too much lettuce on the taco, because it didn’t add anything to the dish. The rest of the meats were fine.

I, of course, tried the torta. Let me tell you a little bit about my torta quest. Before I moved to NC, I had never heard of tortas including beans or ketchup, both ingredients that I can barely tolerate on any meal by accident, much less on purpose. Nanotaco does not foul their torta with such ingredients, keeping it to the lettuce, tomato, meat, onion, jalapeno, mayonnaise, and guacamole I approve of.

Okay, they didn’t actually put any jalapenos on mine (why do restaurants leave off listed ingredients—why!?), but I added in pickled jalapenos from the salsa bar, and it was perfect. I went with chorizo for my meat, and I can’t think of a better choice, because together, it was the right level of sloppy and spicy that I demand in a torta. Possible critiques? It might be a tad too dry with other meats than chorizo—extra mayo would fix that. The bread was a little greasier and thinner than I prefer. But it’s the best torta I’ve had in the area, hands down.

Overall, I was content with my Nanotaco experience. Prices were great for the regular plates, but upgrades like the dirty meats and the guacamole ($2 for chips and salsa, but it’s an extra $2.50 to make that salsa guacamole) seemed too much.  My friends will be back for the hog jowl, and I’ll be back for the torta, so I think Nanotaco may be a case of finding just the right menu item that appeals to you, and I have a feeling they have one for everyone. Though I think I’ll opt for one of their shakes over the margarita next time.

Reviewed 11 Jan 12.  

PieBird is a cute little restaurant situated in the northern end of downtown Raleigh, almost at the Mordecai neighborhood. As one might guess from the name, its primary focus is on pies, both sweet and savory. For lunch, salads and hand pies are available until they are gone, and dinner has a focus on pot pies and shepherd’s pies, though there are daily specials as well. Dessert pies, however, are where they are making the most waves in the Triangle food scene, and I think that’s an earned acclaim.

The setup is one long brick wall of seating with bar seating across the way.

I especially liked the pastel blue napkins and the bird salt and pepper shakers that my friends insisted on posing for me.

We went at dinner time, and most of the entrees come with a choice of changing sides. I decided on the panzanella salad for my side.

I was very pleased with it. The last time I ordered a panzanella, mysteriously, there was very little bread. Not so at PieBird! It had plenty of croutons about halfway between crunchy and soggy, the right texture I think of when I picture panzanella.

Most of my friends tried out the various pot pies. The curry pie was praised well above the chicken and shepherd pies. Mostly, the responses to the chicken and shepherd pies were that they were good and filling, but not quite good enough to get that homey feeling you expect from those dishes. I didn’t try them, so I can’t weigh in. Instead, I was seduced by the daily special, a tomato pie served over aged balsamic.

It was very good, though the tomatoes were not as flavorful as expected. But the crust and the filling wrapped them up nicely, and the balsamic lent liveliness to each bite.

Dessert, however, was the most anticipated course. I had tried PieBird’s chocolate cream pie on Thanksgiving, and it was excellent, somewhere between pudding and mousse on the fluffiness scale and served in a chocolate cookie crust. Everyone really enjoyed their various takes on chess pies this evening. The Blue Bird of Happiness was a favorite, served on an oatmeal cookie crust and sprinkled with sea salt.

Let me take a moment to talk about PieBird’s chess pies. They have a very thin layer of filling, but that layer is so dense that you don’t need more—they’ve somehow found the perfect ratio of concentrated filling to pie crust. I decided, however, to have the pumpkin cheesecake rather than a chess or fruit pie. Frankly, my memory is failing me on what the ice cream was—possible something sweet potato?

Again, the filling was great, and that fairly thin amount of cream cheese you see was tasty and made the already creamy pumpkin even creamier and delicious. However, the whipped cream was just too much with all the other rich dairy, so I scooped most of it off. The ice cream, however, was a disappointment as it was pretty icy and not packing as strong of flavors as I like.

If you are looking for different takes on chess pies or cream pies, definitely stop in at PieBird. Dinner was pretty good, especially the panzanella salad, but be forewarned that it’s hard to save room for dessert when you’re already eating pie for dinner! If you do try and brave it, opt for the curry pot pie or a daily special.

A who would be an if ratings were based on pies alone.

Reviewed 13 Dec 11.

Blueberry flavors come first with this wine, but they melt away into something that reminds me of the fig butter I just picked up from Trader Joe’s. But this wine is bitterer than the fig butter and pretty dry. There’s a heat to it, and I’d call it medium bodied.

None of that combines especially well. It’s not horrible, but it’s not far off, either.

Other Bloggers’ Thoughts:

Chez Moi

Color: dark purple
Aroma: closed but fresh fruits are present, hint of vanilla, pepper
Taste: chewy, spicy, med tannins, medium finish, slight acidic

. . . It’s mostly dry, but has an almost indiscernible sweetness at the very end . . .J’s Review: I like it the same as the Shiraz, and better than the Cabernet. Tastes a little bit bitter, but a good kind of bitter. Would buy again.

The Value Vine on the 2009 vintage

As fruity as the Yellow Tail Merlot reviewed above, this Shiraz-Cabernet blend is a little bolder, with more sweet spice, riper fruit, and even some minerality. This one also lacks the hot, alcohol-driven nose of the Merlot.

Reviewed 30 Dec 11.

You see, two friends, Steve and Chris, have this habit of facing off over cocktails. They each have their specialty drinks, usually ones that’ll please the ladies. For Chris, that’s the Girl Scout Cookie, and for Steve, that’s the Caramel Apple. Those have both made appearances in their past competitions, along with a variety of other crowd-pleasing drinks—I remember a 4th of July competition that ended up in red, white, and blue concoctions all over the place. Both men have been evenly ranked in those competitions, but you see, I throw a bit of a wrench in their standard operating procedure. I’m most assuredly a lady—okay, I honestly prefer chick—but I’m much more inclined to stronger, more classic cocktails than the sweeter ones typically associated with the female taste. And I have a thing for absinthe. I won’t even pretend it isn’t related to imaging myself as an American ex-pat writer in 1920s Paris.

Needless to say, I’ve talked up the need for Chris and Steve to compete in an absinthe mixology challenge for months, and this New Year’s Eve just happened to provide the perfect opportunity. With only a day’s notice, both Steve and Chris accepted, and the competition was on.

The competitors, back to back in my kitchen.

NV Absinthe Verte was the absinthe chosen for the competition, because, well, I had it on hand. It’s not my favorite absinthe, but we don’t have many choices here in NC, and the Pernod Absinthe, which I do prefer, is around twice as expensive. Steve and Chris mostly used ingredients in our alcohol cabinet, which is really more of an alcohol stand—yes, I’m proud of my collection and display it. Some shaking and stirring later and the first two competing drinks were ready.

Round 1

Steve inspecting his handiwork.

Steve’s handiwork, the Absinthe Minded.

This was my absolute favorite drink of the evening, which is especially noteworthy because I’m not a big gin drinker, and gin was the base liquor. Yes, I’m a sucker for presentation, and the lemon peel just looked lovely in that glass. But the taste was perfect for me: strong, but without an overpowering absinthe presence. My other two judges disagreed, finding it pretty unappealing. For the record, they were both men, and they both preferred the sweeter drinks this evening. That means I’m badass, right?

Chris’s 1st entrant, a Scottish Licorice, emphasis on the Scotch.

The coloring of this drink was beautiful, of course, and it was fairly simple cocktail. I thought it was lovely, but Steve won this round for me.

My husband, Judge 2, in between rounds.

Round 2 began right away, and I’d call it the fruity round of the competition.

Round 2

Chris perfecting his second cocktail.

That second cocktail, the Wharf Rat.

For me, this had too much fruit but Judges 2 and 3 LOVED it. They really, really loved it. I was reminded of Hawaiian Punch; they were reminded of heaven. Steve’s cocktail, once again, pleased my palate better.

The Hemingway, a champagne cocktail.

The Hemingway was a simple recipe, and for me, it tasted smooth and classy. Judges 2 and 3 were somewhat bored by it, I believe. Such uncultured blokes.

Judge 3 saying hello to the most exciting visitor of the evening—Millie, a toy poodle and Pekingese puppy.

Two rounds was the intended competition length, but adding up all three of our scores resulted in a dead heat. We pulled those two cocktail makers away from their avid Ryan Seacrest viewing to come back and mix up a third drink, completely unprepared.

Round 3–updated because, well, three rounds of absinthe makes my memory fuzzy.

The Absinthe Frappe, also dubbed the Kenna Konqueror. Perhaps you can guess Steve’s last name?

This drink was good, but it was middle of the pack for the evening and didn’t stand out enough to impress.  (ETA, Here is where my memory gets extraordinarily fuzzy.) The Absinthe Frappe was Chris’s final entrant, and at least two of us liked it a lot–I honestly can’t remember why anymore! I remember making up a batch of club soda to aid Chris in his mixing, though.

The Absinthe Morning, created by Steve on the spot, with fresh blood orange juice.

For the first time, Chris’s drink defeated Steve’s for me. The Absinthe Morning, a brand new creation by Steve, is what I remember most in the final round. It was fruity, but not in the strong way his previous drink had been. Instead, the absinthe cut through the fruit, creating a nice balance between them.

Judge 2 and Judge 3 were divided between the two drinks, I believe Steve won my vote yet again, but Judges 2 and 3 opted for Chris’s Absinthe Frappe instead, and thus, we were able to crown a winner . . .  Chris, by one point!

What did I learn? An absinthe challenge is a super fun way to celebrate the new year, in case anyone’s planning for next year already. (ETA, and also, I should run my facts by the challengers before putting up a blog post.) Personally, I’m trying to think what the main ingredient for the next match up of Chris and Steve’s skills should be. Any suggestions?

The espresso martini is hiding on Watt’s dessert menu. Combine a shot of Joe Van Gogh’s espresso, Stoli Vanil vodka, Chambord liqueur, and a splash of Bailey’s Irish crème liqueur, and you have a unique coffee cocktail that still manages to hit all the elements I expect from one. First of all, the aroma of this drink was wonderful, and the frothy presentation with three little beans was quite appealing. The taste of the espresso comes though nicely without bitterness and imparts a welcome nutty note. The raspberry flavor is light and rather soothing in combination with the Irish crème. None of these ingredients overwhelm each other. They simply work well together to make a delicious drink.

Reviewed 3 Dec 11.  

WOW: That’s so true. Creating a hook that keeps readers invested is the goal. Your creation of the main character is brilliant. She’s self-centered, lonely, demanding, and vulnerable. That’s a powerful combination. What does her attitude say about the state of humanity?

Rebecca: Since she spent her life not taking other people’s feelings into consideration, she essentially removed herself from humanity and they no longer wish to consider her feelings, either. Through rejecting the simple human connection that comes from things as basic as treating the people around you with respect, she has essentially lost the right to that same treatment herself. Not that I want people to read about a murder and cheer on her death, per se, but I do like that it’s a bit of a comeuppance for her and the way she’s lived her life.

I have a compulsion when dining out in the Triangle – I must try a new place every time! We are spoiled with amazing options, and I’m lucky enough to have friends just as excited to try them all as I am.

My dining companions on this particular evening all work in the American Tobacco District in downtown Durham, so we wanted somewhere nearby. The usual suspects like Revolution, Rue Cler and Dos Perros were quickly eliminated – we’d all been to them before!

Where we hadn’t been is an Italian restaurant just half a mile away in the redeveloped West Village warehouses. Unless you happened to glance into the courtyard between the Flowers Warehouse and Cooper Shop buildings as you walked down Fernway or Morgan streets, you wouldn’t know 604 West Morgan was tucked away inside.

For the rest of the review, and pictures, head to the post!

Lest the color of that bottle fool you like it fooled me, Bacardi’s 1873 Ron Solera is a golden rum, not a dark one. It’s aged up to three years in charred oak and was my choice of rum to try for sipping now that my bourbon addiction has waned.

The rum is peach-gold in color. It smells luxuriously, like a sherry with orange notes and without all the sugar. It’s light-bodied and full of wonderful citrus, which is unexpected for a rum. There’s a buttery feel to it, and mild vanilla makes it go down easily.

It would serve best for adding great character to cocktails because of its lightness, but I really enjoyed sipping it anyhow. Overall, a surprising and welcome reintroduction to rum for me.

Other bloggers’ thoughts:

Rum Reviews

Andy: For the first time ever for a non-flavored Bacardi product . . . this ain’t bad. I have not found a Bacardi product that I have been able to tolerate until now. The Solera has a little bite to it, but it also has something different . . . I just can’t put my tongue on it . . . nutmeg maybe? Anyway, whether you like or hate Bacardi products, give this one a shot, I definitely think it will surprise you.

Adrian: This isn’t bad. It has a little bite but a lot of richness. It definitely holds its own for the price. If you were going to buy a Bacardi product, this would be the one to buy. I would drink this as an everyday rum with no problem and have begun keeping it at the home bar for company when they come over.

Liquor Lick

. . . Strangely enough, the odor does not seem very typical for a rum, but rather more like a sherry . . . somewhat overwhelmingly sweet, with a syrupy honey quality. In the glass, the rum is a medium dark amber color, very similar to many of the heavier scotches. The flavor is just as sherry like as the nose, with a sort of sickly sweet burning quality. It also tingles, almost as if it were carbonated. Despite that, it is surprisingly smooth, more towards the smooth side of the scale than the harsh. There is a caramelized sugar note that lingers in the mouth.

Cooking Without Pants

The Bacardi Ron Solera is, honestly, one of the best rums I have tasted in ages. Its bright flavor is sweet and the follow isn’t too difficult, though a bit sharp, its overall feel was smooth. Mixing it into soda takes away much of its complexity and makes it taste like Bacardi Anejo or simply Bacardi Dark. But, it’s a good rum. Highly recommended.

Reviewed 26 Dec 11.

This is a seasonal offering at Watts, and it’s the second I’ve had locally featuring Foggy Ridge cider—I must check into that label to see why our bartenders are experimenting with it! Including the cider, the Graniwinkle is made of house-spiced apple cider syrup, brandy, lemon juice, and maple syrup. Surprisingly, the lemon juice is the strongest flavor, and because it goes so well with brandy, I think that’s a great choice. I expected the maple syrup to be overwhelming, but it was mellow, acting as a binding agent for the apple, spice, and lemon more than anything else. The bubbles from the cider cut nicely through what might have been strong lemon otherwise, and the concentrated apple cider syrup gave the drink that little bit of extra oomph to keep my interest.

The Graniwinkle is a well-crafted drink that’s worthy of your taste buds if Watts is still featuring it!

Reviewed 3 Dec 11.

Here’s my plan: I’m going to point you all to my published pieces one by one in case you missed them the first time they were published. I’ll report links to my interviews on other blogs as well, maybe revel in that time—ok, two times now—that Durham magazine interviewed me on the Triangle dining scene or those times—ok, two times now—that the Independent Weekly mentioned my name. Eventually, I’ll even  tell you all about how I’m writing the occasional post for WRAL Out and About, the first of which will be coming out soon. Yes, I’ve known that for weeks, submitted my first review last week, and I still haven’t told the interwebs about it—I really am that bad at self-promotion, folks.

Consider this the first installment in my bragging series, to be posted at least every other Thursday. Our first installment is Last Complaint, a horror short story that won me third place in WOW! Women on Writing’s Flash Fiction contest back in 2009. In it, a grumpy old woman finds out that airing her grievances isn’t always the wisest plan. Here are the first few paragraphs:

She parks her station wagon under the “No Vacancy” sign. This is the first inn she’s passed since dinner at that horrible truck stop diner. Her bowl of clam chowder had been lukewarm and the waitress had the gall to try and make her pay for it. She doubts she’ll be treated any better at this place, but she can feel her eyelids drooping.

“Bellboy!” she yells into the dark lot. No one comes. She sighs, then pulls out her suitcase and wheels it towards the small front office that glows with a pale green fluorescence.

“Can I help you?” grunts the middle-aged man wearing a stained gray uniform at the desk. He flips the channel on an old television set that’s perched on the countertop behind him.

“I need a room,” she says. “How much?”

“We’re full up. No vacancy,” he gestures towards the sign outside then stares at her, his mouth hanging open.

“That’s ridiculous,” she insists. “I have a nephew who manages a Hyatt.” She waits for this to affect him but his expression does not change. She continues, unperturbed, “There are always extra rooms available, that’s what he told me.  Even at the Hyatt.”

To continue reading, head here, and scroll down the page about halfway. You’ll find my picture and the rest of Last Complaint there. This picture was not taken with the story in mind, but it captures the mood of the latter half of the story, stumbling through a dark hallway half asleep.

Enjoy! And let me know what you thought.

This medium-bodied and medium dry tempranillo is all you can ask for at $3.99. It smells like dark chocolate and light leather. Cherry comes to mind first when sipping, but that dark chocolate has a stronger presence overall. It’s bitter in a way that ties in nicely to the dark chocolate. There’s subtle spice that most closely resembles cardamom and comes up to finish off the taste.

This isn’t a sophisticated wine by any means, but it’s a serviceable example of a tempranillo at such an affordable price. It’s worth serving after your show-off wines are finished. And by show-off, I mean anything above $10 a bottle, of course. Let’s not get crazy here.

Other bloggers’ thoughts:

The Poor Man’s Guide to Alcohol

I found this wine to be OK. It wasn’t bad if you need a decent red wine in a pinch for a dinner party or a wine to cook with. The first glass I poured for myself had a huge bite. After a couple more glasses of wine, the bite mellowed out.

Wines I Enjoy

The Tempranillo was very nice, certainly not a great wine. The bouquet was good, the taste fair. It was very drinkable. I was pleasantly surprised at how good the wine was for the price. I have had $10 bottles that were not this good.

Reviewed 12 Dec 11.

At the Independence National Historical Park

I started our second day in Philly with a visit to the Terminal Market, which was located right across the street from our hotel. Visiting Terminal Market was recommended by a number of my foodie friends from Twitter, so I knew had to check it out. I decided to combine it with another oft-recommended food activity—buy a pretzel! I honestly had no idea that soft pretzels were associated with Philly before this trip. Apparently, they migrated over from Pennsylvania Dutch country and are a favorite treat for locals. I didn’t browse around the Terminal Market for long—Ben was sick, and I’ve actually seen my fill of food markets lately—they lose a little luster when you realize you can find one in most large cities. I wonder if part of their allure is just the plentitude of choices they offer in one location? I can get overwhelmed in a bookshop, frozen with my inability to make a choice among so many possibilities, so that may be part of my disinterest of late.

With my required pretzel in hand, I headed back to the hotel to dig in.

The long braid rather than a single pretzel bow was a unique shape, but otherwise, it tasted like a regular pretzel. I think getting one warm right off the cart would have been a better plan. Luckily, I had a massive cookie to console me.

There were way more Reese’s Pieces on that cookie than there was cookie matter. The bakery at the market charged by the pound for their treats, and now you know why!

After that meal of pretzel and sugar, I met up with an old high school friend for coffee then spent the afternoon strolling around the Old City area of Philly, which is where most of the historic sites are located. I’ll get those photos up eventually, but pertinent to this post is the appetite I worked up from walking for several miles and seeing Ben Franklin’s grave, Betsy Ross’s house, and Carpenter’s Hall, where the first Continental Congress was held. All this exercise meant one thing: a cheesesteak was in order.

Nothing received more responses than my requests for cheesesteak recommendations. Dalessandro’s, Dimitri’s, Geno’s Steaks, Pat’s King of Steaks, Phil & Jim’s, Jake’s . . . they all had a number of fans. But I chose the spot with plenty of downtown cred and closest walking distance to my rumbling tummy—Jim’s Steaks on South Street.

I had to have the steak filling, of course, and I couldn’t be in Philly, trying the authentic article, without choosing cheese whiz as my cheese. My only regret in ordering is that I didn’t realize I needed to specify grilled peppers and only ended up with onions.

That’s a mighty large sandwich for a reasonable price, and I gobbled it down pretty fast. The verdict? I can see how it would become addictive, but the cheese whiz with the greasy but tasty steak was odder of a combination than I expected. I had dreams of the magic of French fries dipped in Frosties but found myself confronted with something more on the level of nacho cheese sauce on popcorn—hey, I was desperate when I worked in a movie theater for free food.  Don’t judge me. Do bring cash when you go to Jim’s; it’s one of Philly’s many cash-only joints.

After walking a great many more blocks back to the hotel, I found a much healthier husband craving dinner. We decided on Lolita, an upscale Mexican restaurant focusing on local ingredients on 13th Street. Once we arrived, however, we realized it was one of aforementioned cash-only spots and had to pick another restaurant. We both think of Indian as comfort food, so it made perfect sense that Ben would want it as his second choice after a day of feeling sick. A few blocks away, we found Minar Palace on Walnut Street.

They had a typical Indian menu, but the atmosphere was sleeker than many Indian restaurants and attractive with warm, red lighting.

Both being famished, we started with their appetizer platter that featured samosas, pakora, chicken tikka, and seekh kabab.

The pakora and samosas were excellent, but the seekh kabab was not to my liking, tasting pretty dry. To be fair, I don’t generally like lamb. I did like my chai tea that was steamed in milk, and our order of paratha bread stuffed with mashed potatoes was delicious.

For the main course, we chose kofta curry (vegetable patties sautéed in a creamy tomato curry) and lamb saag.

The saag was great; I had gone way too long without having good saag. I enjoyed the texture of the koftas as well, and I couldn’t have asked for a more warming comfort food meal. Minar Palace did not blow my mind, but it did the standards of Indian cuisine in America as well as you can ask for.

Thus concludes my food journey through Philadelphia. I do hope you enjoyed this trip through the City of Brotherly Love’s cuisine. The highlight for me was probably the World Café’s offerings, found on the first blog. If you don’t mind ordering a New York State of Mind while in Philly, you won’t regret it, and that lobster pudding was a fun culinary discovery.

Foundation has another wonderful cocktail to add to its list with the Golden Era. Bourbon has been my spirit of choice for the past year or so, but recently, it’s been a bit too harsh for my palate. So I’ve gone back to my first love, rum. The Golden Era uses Cruzan single barrel rum, Foggy Ridge Pippin Gold cider, Peychaud’s bitters, and lemon peel to create a strong drink that’s smooth going down. Isn’t that what all good cocktails should strive for?

The star player in this drink is definitely the cider used to complement the rum. It’s a dessert cider, which wasn’t something I’d heard of before, though I know apples are common to the dessert wine world. In this drink, it mellowed out any harshness from the rum, and the subtle lemon oil from the peel gave it all a little infusion of brightness.

If you love rum, I think you’ll find this is a golden era at Foundation for your tastes.

Reviewed 10 Dec 11.

I purchased this wine based on its super appealing nose at a wine tasting at Hope Valley Bottle Shop recently. It smells like brown sugar with white pepper and leather notes. I haven’t had many leathery wines lately, so that may be what appealed to me most. Drinking it is better than smelling it, because the fruit comes out nicely. I taste dark cherry, date, and fig. It’s smooth, moderately dry, and leaves you with that white pepper and some leather on the way out. It’s a lovely wine, and it would go wonderfully with steaks, burgers, or possibly a rich dessert like a bread pudding.

I think it’s fantastic. Give it a try.

Other Bloggers’ Thoughts:

Lots of bloggers have thoughts on their montepulciano d’abruzzo but the aglianico has been neglected.

Reviewed 28 Nov 11.

Twenty-year-old Maya knew, as she watched Dean walk away from her front door, distraught at her silence and her father’s threats, that she would never love anyone with the intensity that she loved him. He was her painter, her artist, her soul mate and being apart from him hurt too much. She tucked those feelings away, determined to enjoy the safe and secure life her parents approved of: business school and a marriage to Chuck, a successful real estate agent.

Thirty years later, Chuck has cheated on and divorced her. But when he comes back, begging for reconciliation, Maya follows her intuition and takes a vacation to think it over. Her love of art, food, and wine combine at this retreat in the woods, and she prepares for a week of making new friends, tasting exquisite wines, and learning to paint again. What she hasn’t prepared for is the familiar voice she hears the first morning at camp . . . a voice that makes her skin tingle and brings back memories of who she used to be before Chuck. Has Maya buried her passion too deep to find love with Dean again?

I hope you love it, and if you do, please leave a review!

I love when bars creatively mix and match their spirits to come up with unique combinations you’d never expect. The Olivia had one of those descriptions I just had to try; Sauza hornitos tequila with the flowery St. Germain, sour mix, and cranberry juice. I couldn’t begin to guess how that would all taste together.

The answer? Not great. The tequila was difficult to taste at all and the white cranberry juice too mellow to contribute much to the drink’s layers. The dominating element was definitely the sour mix, and that is not a good thing for any drink. I personally think sour mixes 1). should always, always be made in-house, and I think this was bottled, and 2. should be used in small quantities and only to contrast with other bold flavors. None of the other ingredients were strong enough to stand up to it, though I did like the brief respites of elderflower once the sour mix washed away from each sip.

To sum up: Sometimes, experimentation goes awry.

Reviewed 1 Dec 11.

This is a rich wine with a depth to it that makes me happy to drink it despite the fact that it’s not really that great. It’s dark brown in color. Milk chocolate is the dominant taste, which is its main drawback for me. There are healthy doses of fig, brown sugar, and prune as well. The fruit comes forward first, followed by the chocolate for a finish. My husband thinks it’s very dry, but I disagree.

The Banshee Red Wine is surprisingly mellow and lacking in any electrifying manner despite its namesake. Yet I still drank and enjoyed it. Considering that I’m writing this as I continue plopping lackluster advent calendar chocolate in my mouth, that’s probably not saying much.

Other Bloggers’ Thoughts:

Not finding any! Guess no one else has heard it screaming from the wine shelves.

Reviewed 2 Dec 11.

Our very short trip to Philly last month was filled with lots of food and drink—probably too much of the later, but you’ll have to ask me for the full story. In one and a half days, we managed loads of cocktails, mussels, lobster pudding, Indian, and of course, a cheesesteak. I hope to fit all that in this one blog post, but we’ll see how long it is by the time I’m done! (Update: too long!)

Being the smart cookie I am, I knew I needed to enlist the help of Twitter to recommend places to try out. One of them was Monk’s, a Belgian pub with an excellent beer list per all the recommendations I received. We found it pretty easily, but as it turns out, everyone’s a big fan of Monk’s! The place was swamped inside, even on a Sunday night.

Thus why so many people recommended it to us, I’m sure. However, we didn’t have enough time to wait for a seat somewhere, so we opted for the Black Sheep instead, only a few blocks away.

It was a pretty awesome Irish pub, with a good, if not extensive beer list. Mellow vibe, and a nice place to actually hear your friends if you’re out with a group.

Ben enjoying a brew.

I was quite impressed with the mussels we had as an appetizer before our show.

The Mussels Jalapeno

They came in a white wine broth with spicy pepperoni, and every bite was delicious. The garlic bread was to die for, especially when sopping up the sauce. Having something delicious to sop up sauce with is the point of eating mussels, right?

Most of our evening was spent at World Café Live, an excellent rock club in the University City section of Philly.

The same building also houses the University of Pennsylvania’s college radio station. There’s an upstairs and a downstairs venue and both offer dining options while you watch your concert. I think the upstairs is for smaller shows, and it’s pretty intimate with small round tables spread around.

The Upstairs bar.

The Upstairs stage.

The food at World Café Live surprised me; I don’t expect a rock club to have the best options, but they offered a range of items from your standard paninis and quesadillas to entrees like filet mignon with celery root puree. Ben went the sandwich route, choosing a Panini with turkey, ham, fennel salami, brie, and a pomegranate reduction sauce.

I was intrigued by the lobster bread pudding with a roasted corn sauce because it was one of the most random entrees I’d ever heard of. Besides, I love lobster.

The presentation was beautiful, especially that vibrant pile of pea shoots on top. The sweetness of the lobster meat and the creamed corn sauce were fabulous together, and the dill in that sauce was essential. It somehow managed to be a sweet yet unquestionably savory dish.

World Café Live also impressed with their cocktail list. The first one I had was the Smashing Pumpkin with spiced rum, pumpkin liquor, cream, and Bailey’s Irish cream.

There was something concentrated and tangy on the rim of that glass, and whatever it was tied together this drink perfectly. The coated rim was rolled in graham cracker crumbs and light spices. Each sip with that tang and the richness of the cocktail ingredients was delicious. It’s an excellent dessert cocktail choice.

My second drink was less impressive, but I bet that has everything to do with my taking on a gin drink.

The Cold Gin Kiss is made with Bluecoat gin, lime, lemonade, Canton Liqueuer, and Grand Marnier. I expected more citrus elements based on that ingredient list, but the gin came through super strong—all I could taste was juniper. If you are a gin lover, then it’s probably perfect for you, but it was too much for my palate. My last drink, which was essentially a Manhattan entitled New York State of Mind, was a million times better. It was made with Basil Hayden bourbon, sweet vermouth, and bitters. No picture, but it was an outstanding Manhattan.

We walked back to our hotel after the show, and all those cocktails I just described are probably what made walking past the Rum Bar inconceivable.

Look at that fog around the streetlamp! How could I resist a rum bar with spooky fog? It’s just not possible. Don’t be swayed by the cheesy pirate in the storefront; it’s actually pretty sleek and modern inside the doors.

I’d be lying if I said the cheesy pirate wasn’t 8/10s of the appeal of walking in for me, though. The other 2/10s were split equally between the level of alcohol in my system and my love of rum. Speaking of which . . .

Ben went for something dark and spicy on the rocks, and I opted for a Dark and Stormy, always a good choice when in the mood for rum. And thus endeth the first day of our feasting. The next blog will conquer our second day of food, with treats from the Terminal Market, Indian food, and the reveal of which Philadelphia spot I chose for my cheesesteak.

I’ve been twice now to Old Havana Sandwich Shop, and it’s a wonderful choice for lunch or coffee. The owners are always super welcoming and happy to share their offerings of good Cuban sandwiches. I am not a Cuban sandwich traditionalist—if you are, you’ll be horrified to learn that I ordered both my sandwiches without any mustard at all, so don’t count on me to tell you whether this meets your authenticity credentials or not. But it definitely meets my delicious credentials, and that’s all I ask for.

Following the smart choice of many local restaurants and cafes, Old Havana gets their bread from Guglhupf, and the French rolls crisp up wonderfully when pressed. They also do coffee really well. My double cubano

was absolutely delicious and sweetened just right for me to add it to my list of favorite strong, yet palatable, caffeine fixes in the area. It’s pictured with a dulce de leche mantecadito from the South Durham Confectionary Company. I thought that was steeply priced at $0.75 for such a small cookie, but it was pretty tasty with lots of butter. The dulce de leche flavor was lost in the mix, however.

I’ve also had their double café con leche, and that drink was just as well-prepared as the cubano.

The Old Havana Sandwich Shop gets major points for their coffee quality.

All their sandwiches are served with two portions of perfectly prepared maduras, mushy on the inside and crisp on the edges.

Both times, I ordered the Tampa sandwich, which usually comes with slow-roasted pork from local farms, ham, salami, pickles, cheese, mustard, and mojo sauce. All three meats on mine were super fresh and quality. None of their tastes overwhelmed the others, and the pickles and mojo sauce provided nice bursts of liveliness with each bite.

On my first trip, my friend Rosie ordered the vegetarian platter that came with black beans, rice, and plantain chips.

To me, it didn’t look at all appetizing, but I happen to hate beans. She liked the beans fine, but she agreed, as many bloggers have already mentioned, that fresh, rather than bagged, plantain chips would be better. It appears from Carpe Durham comments that the owners don’t want to invest in a deep fryer, and I can’t blame them for opting to forgo that expense and the necessary fans to disperse the smell. Frankly, I’d rather have the maduras portion that comes with the sandwiches anyway.

Friend Rosie also ordered one of their side salads, which varies according to the produce available. This was a butternut squash salad.

It hopped with citrus flavors and was a great alternative to all the heavy squash dishes that come out this time of year.

The interior of the Old Havana Sandwich Shop is quite appealing with its mix of muted yellow walls, splashes of color from artwork on the walls and at the counter, and potted plants.

There’s also a couch situated in the back corner, and free wi-fi is available, but the outlets are covered, so it’s only ideal for short-term working stints as a coffee house. Regardless, I’ll definitely be back because I love the welcoming vibe of the place, and while they don’t have a varied menu, what they do, they do well. Besides, I love a good cup of coffee.

Check out these other bloggers’ thoughts, too.

Reviewed 30 Nov 11 and 19 Oct 11.

I reviewed a sister of this wine a while back, and I remembered a commenter saying I really ought to try out this version instead. It’s a lovely blend with blackberry and plum flavors dominating. After that swirls nicely around your mouth, a bit of clove comes through to wash it home. Light oak, and mildly dry.

I think my commenter knows their stuff. This is definitely worth its price at Trader Joe’s.

Other Bloggers’ Thoughts:

Jason’s Wine Blog

Sweet on the nose and a touch on the palate with juicy cherries and soft acidity. Simple and pleasing but perhaps as good for what it isn’t, not cloying, harsh or flabby, as what it is. A solid $5 table wine for any occasion.

Beards and Bellies

At first sip, nothing extraordinary. But as air moves into the wine, a delectable dance of cherry and baking spice flavors bounce on the tongue along with raspberry and cranberry notes.

Moderate tannins carry the wine through, providing a drier finish and avoiding the fruity flabbiness I remember the ’09 by (which many people still loved by the way.) Well balanced, decent structure–especially at this price point.

The Underground WineLetter

The wine is delicious. It has a deep color and a lovely perfume of plums with floral cedary nuances. The flavors are gorgeous with supple berry fruit accented by a tinge of green olive and spice. The wine is supple and lush with sweet fruit backed by a bright acidity which is very harmonious and adds a degree of freshness that is most appealing. This is a gorgeous, sexy wine that is a great value. 

Reviewed 17 November 11.

This sparkling wine cocktail was an unexpected treat! A traditional bellini is usually prosecco combined with peach puree or juice. Oftentimes, peach schnapps is added as well, but it’s not required. However, whoever comes up with the drinks at the Nantucket Grill in Sutton Station made the brilliant choice to use that peach schnapps and rather than stick with peach puree as well, use mango juice in its place. Peach and mango taste fairly similar, but mango has that extra tropical punch that can be either overwhelming or delicious. Combining it with peach schnapps grounded the mango flavor; it’s definitely there, but it’s more subdued than you expect of mango. This bellini is also made with frizzante sparkling wine rather than prosecco, which means that it’s semi-sparkling and not so overwhelmingly bubbly, allowing the fruit flavors to shine.

In other words, the mango bellini is an improvement on your basic bellini, and you ought to be drinking one now.

Reviewed 28 Nov 11.

That theme happens to fit the venue, a few-month-old club in Durham called the Roxy, to a tee.

The Space

The vibe this evening.

The Roxy, you see, is meant to evoke the spirit of those speakeasy days when you never knew whose bathtub the moonshine was coming out of. Not being restricted to illegal alcohol these days, of course, the Roxy focuses on classic cocktails that got their start around the turn of the century. These sorts of cocktails, like sazeracs and Manhattans, just happen to be my favorite kind. I was just as excited to try the Roxy’s holiday drinks launching at this party as I was to realize that my little red dress is a few sizes too big these days.

The husband and I getting our best Prohibition on. Photo credit: Christopher Greene www.cgmoments.com

The holiday cocktail list.

Ever the devoted drink blogger, I managed to make my way through three of those options, starting with the Spiced Cherry Sidecar ($8).

The drink amidst the Yelp wares of the evening: playing cards, poker chips, and chocolate cigars.

The Spiced Cherry Sidecar is made with Cointreau, Lillet Blanc, lemon juice, and brandied cherry juice. You can’t see them well in this picture, but there were several brandied cherries resting at the bottom of the glass, and I adore brandied cherries—black forest cake is my absolute favorite dessert—so it’s no wonder that I loved this drink. The level of alcohol hovers between smooth and strong on the palate, and the subtle Christmas spices give it a beautiful sophistication. The only drink I liked more was my second, the Spiced Apple Old Fashioned ($10).

Yes, it’s a pricy drink, but I thought it was worth every penny. I’m not sure what bourbon they use, but it goes beautifully with the spiced apple syrup and the orange bitters. This is a strong drink, but with those warming spices and the comforting taste of apple, I don’t think you’ll mind it. I certainly didn’t, and I am definitely going to have another one sometime soon. My last drink, the Gingersnap ($10), didn’t measure up in comparison.

Made with molasses syrup, ginger, bitters, and grenadine, it was too similar to a dessert cocktail for my mood that evening. But that doesn’t mean it’s not delicious—oh contraire, my friends. First of all, I think that beautiful little heart-shaped gingersnap on top and the whipped cream with it make the drink by calling to mind the cookie flavors so you can appreciate how the unusual ingredient list manages to give a pretty close approximation of one. If you have a sweet tooth, try it.

Thoroughly impressed with the Roxy’s drink options and atmosphere, what was a sauced young moll to do but take some more pictures? It doesn’t require much concentration. Take a gander at these swanky yelpers.

A little behind the bar action—and how awesome is it that the Roxy’s bartenders and owner dressed up?

And to end, another shot of my husband, looking smashing in his 1920s gear.

He claimed that the clothes were horribly unauthentic, but hey, it’s a party and he was cute, so I think he deserves the final shot anyway.

You should definitely head out to the Roxy if you like classic cocktails recipes and enjoy the allure of dark woods, warm red walls, and friendly bartenders. Just don’t forget to bring me along.

Reviewed/partied 9 Dec 11.

No shame here—I bought this wine because of that freaking awesome label. Seriously, it has texture! And the name of the wine is in the skull’s teeth! I love it.

Forever Red contains lots of tart, but luscious, berry. Think thick, juicy boysenberries. Cedar is on the palate, too, which isn’t my favorite wine note. There are also savory spices like cumin and coriander. With some airing, the spice layers come out and mellow that berry tartness. The wine tastes meaty, like a duck and berry dish that’s pretty delicious.

I’d like to try it with more airing again, but it’s a serviceable, juicy wine worth drinking straight out of the bottle.

Other bloggers’ thoughts:

Living Trader Joe’s

The label on the bottle sells itself well, with chocolate, vanilla, and cinnamon hints as well as oak spice and dark fruits, but it is the bold bing cherry flavors that will rock your wine pallet. Although cherry is not a flavor that I pursue, this wine is truly balanced with the warmer flavors.

Bake Like a Ninja

It’s not bad, just a bit bland.  It’s drinkable, but there aren’t any significant flavors.  Perfectly fine for a glass, but it didn’t wow us.  The husband says that the bottle is more remarkable than the wine (a comment I’ve heard from quite a few people).  It improves a bit with a breathe, but there’s still just not much there.  It’s not hot, not sweet, not smoky, not peppery, not rich, not thin . . . it’s just kinda . . . wine . . . no shape to it. There is a bit sourness and dryness, but that’s about it.

Wine Sipperer

It is a tasty medium-bodied red that will do well with beef or just sipping for enjoyment. This wine has a nice ruby hue with aromas of dark berries and roasted nuts. Dearly Beloved has subtle hints of oak and a long finish, smooth finish.

Reviewed 30 Oct 11.

Yamazushi is a Japanese restaurant that’s been in the Woodcroft Shopping Center since 1986, owned by the same husband and wife pair, George and Mayumi Yamazawa. I’ve been once before, at least four years ago, and it struck me then as your standard sushi and teriyaki restaurant with prices that were somewhat steeper than the others nearby. I discovered on my recent visit that Yamazushi has undergone a transformation—they now offer a unique Japanese dining experience for this area, focused on kaiseki, a multicourse meal of small but thoughtfully planned out courses. In addition to a few starters and midsize entrees that change daily ($6–$16, black cod miso, chef’s sashimi platter, and hot pots are what I remember), Yamazushi offers a three-course kaiseki meal to walk-in customers that is $35. If you are interested in the five-course (somewhere around $50) or eight-course (somewhere around $80) options, you’ll need to make reservations ahead of time. You can also request a vegetarian or vegan option when you call. Also worth noting is that the restaurant can only accommodate parties of one to four people.

I wasn’t planning to check out Yamazushi’s new options when we went, so my pictures are crap (sorry!).  We ordered a bottle of the Treasure Ship Junmai Ginjo sake and were surprised to be presented with a platter of ceramic drinking vessels to choose our preference from for drinking the sake. It turns out that Chef George also makes all the beautiful pottery that drinks and food are served on! The sake was a little fruity and was a great accompaniment to the meal. Japanese teas and beers are also available.

Since we weren’t prepared for a long meal, we ordered off the regular menu. We were surprised with a first course compliments of the kitchen anyhow, and it was a gorgeous, simple salad with great flavors.

Our shrimp shumai were next, and they were tasty.

The filling tasted fresh and clean. My husband then had a second appetizer for his main course, the tuna tartare with pine nuts and Asian pear.

He found it rather small, but it was just an appetizer portion, and it tasted fine. I opted for the eggplant with miso instead.

It was really, really good. The eggplant was at that stage where the flesh melts in your mouth. I loved it, and it was rather filling for a small portion.

We didn’t stay for dessert, but there were some options that sounded delicious like macha green tea ice cream. When we left, I definitely felt like I’d enjoyed a relaxing evening at Yamazushi, and I’d like to go back to have a kaiseki dinner at some point (let me know if you want to go with me!). The details like handmade ceramics and exquisite presentations are fantastic, but it is still a restaurant that’s heavy on your wallet, so it might be best thought of for a special night out.

Reviewed 26 Nov 11.  

If you haven’t done the Santa Cruz experience before, you simply must walk along West Cliff Drive for an afternoon or early evening. Heck, I think a West Cliff walk is necessary every time I’m in town. How else do I see such standard Santa Cruz sights as kayakers in the water?

Now if I’d been in town just a week later, there’d probably have been a gray whale in that shot, too. Santa Cruz had an invasion of them in mid-October! Here’s the pier and boardwalk view when rounding one of the last corners on West Cliff Drive before getting to them.

And here’s a common sight on the pier, which is especially nice after finishing clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl.

Also common are the sea lions that live under the pier. You can hear them barking miles away from the beach at night, tripping my husband out each time he hears them when we first get to town.

And here’s the view of the boardwalk from the pier. Click here for the full panorama.

You probably don’t want to know how many times I’ve had a moment of realization that the sidewalk leading to the pier is covered in seahorse, clamshell, and starfish imprints.

But you have to admit it’s pretty cool, right? Here’s a view of the pier once we left it behind and headed down the block to the boardwalk instead.

Now the Santa Cruz boardwalk is pretty awesome, even though rides are WAY too expensive. But if you’re there in the summer, I think Thursday nights are Family Fun nights with all rides at only 50 cents in my day—probably closer to a dollar each now that it’s a decade later. Wow, it’s been almost a decade since I graduated college. Let’s ponder that sadly for a moment.

Pondering complete. So the boardwalk opened in 1907, making it one of the oldest seaside attractions in California. It’s also where the Lost Boys was filmed. The boardwalk boasts a pretty cool minigolf course, Neptune’s Arcade, rows of shops,

Laffing Sal!, a truly hideous relic of early animatronics,

and of course, rides!

The Giant Dipper, a wooden roller coaster, dates back to 1924, and I can verify that it’s one of the jerkiest roller coasters I’ve ever been on. Here is an obscured view of its dips.

The Giant Dipper is the boardwalk’s most famous ride, but there are several worth checking out.

The Fireball:

The Swinging Carousel, with gorgeous photos on its ceiling:

and the Cave Train Adventure, one of several rides in the kiddie area of the boardwalk:

Here’s a little girl playing a life size “Let’s Go Fishing” game. I had one of those as a kid and I loved it.

The Santa Cruz Diner, known to anyone in town who’s ever needed a 24-hour restaurant and didn’t want Denny’s, gets its own model on a sad little train track in the kiddie area.

I love kiddie roller coasters, and this one’s of a dragon! Yippee!

Here be gargoyles outside the haunted house, wishing they could fly like those sky cars.

And who doesn’t want to play a game called Stinky Feet?

I think that’s inspired.

And here’s one last view of the Santa Cruz boardwalk beach.

After that afternoon stroll, Ben and I headed up Highway 17 to visit our friends in NorCal and have a game night where I got to dominate two pinochle games. I occasionally wonder how much of my life I spent playing pinochle in college, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Here’s the pinochle crew of the evening, at Jason and Janelle’s pad.

And my last photo of the trip was a goodbye hug with Ann, after spending the night at her, Paul, and Cole’s house.

Farewell, California. I promise not to let three years pass before I see you again next time. Heck, I plan not to let 6 months pass if I can make it for that April wedding!

Dude, y’all, I miss those sunsets already. If you’d like to peruse more pictures of our trip, head on over to our photo site.

I picked up this bottle of bourbon while it was significantly discounted at my local ABC store. I was out of bourbon, which is a horrible tragedy that must always be addressed. It was only $11 for 750 ml, which means it’s much cheaper than the Woodford Reserve and Bulleit bourbons that I prefer. But I was convinced to try it because I saw that little 7-years-of-age indicator, which I assumed meant it might have some character, and thus, might be a pretty good deal. I was wrong.

Its coloring is burnt orange with a deeper red simmering inside the glass. It smells highly alcoholic—it is 101 proof, folks—but beneath that lurks some lovely peach and caramel undertones. You may not get past the alcohol in the nose, though, and you definitely won’t in the glass, or at least you won’t if your bourbon tastes are like mine. I can really tell the difference in quality compared to the higher grade bourbons. It’s rough on my palate, and I have to force it down. I taste a thin bourbon flavor in between the burning sensations with none of those flavors in the nose that seemed so promising.

Virgin Bourbon, there’s nothing pure about you for me.

Reviewed 6 Nov 11.

Bloomsbury Bistro is located in a shopping center right near the Five Points intersection in Raleigh. The restaurant is cozy with French provincial coloring and a mural on the back wall of what looks like a relaxed afternoon in the country. The rest of the walls are dijon and salmon colored. It was empty early in the evening but completely filled up by about 7:30. The clientele skewed toward 40 and older.

Chef John Toler’s entrees are French in style, but they meander into Southern, Asian, and other cuisines that liven up the recipes and produce multitudes of quotation marks on the menu descriptions, because nothing is done quite in a traditional manner. The only truly disappointing part of the evening was the uninspired cocktail list, with a lemon drop being about the most interesting drink on the list. For an upscale, inventive restaurant like Bloomsbury Bistro, I expect more in the mixology department. Plus, I really needed a drink that night. Of course, I had some wine to make up for that disappointment.

The first of many nice touches at Bloomsbury Bistro was the herb butter served with the bread. It was very light on herbs; there were just enough to accent the butter’s flavor, making for a lovely spread.

Now, this was a gourmet club outing, so the four of us, as usual, ended up with a huge variety of dishes. The prettiest appetizer was the sautéed black tiger shrimp with stoneground grits cake, served with a collard greens and black-eyed pea salad, peppercorn bacon, and Johnston County country ham vinaigrette.

Friend #1 thought it was far too salty, but she enjoyed the rest of the flavors before the salt tainted her taste buds. My charred roma tomato bisque with pulled roast duck, basil crème fraîche, garlic bread croutons, and a splash of Guinness did not have an overseasoning problem.

Tomato soup often strikes me as boring, but that was definitely not the case with this dish. The best part was the roasted flavor of the tomatoes. The croutons and duck provided wonderful complementary flavors and textures to the tomato soup. I can’t say I tasted the Guinness at all, but I didn’t need to.

Friend #2 opted for the sautéed pumpkin and Gruyere cheese risotto “torta” topped with a grilled pear and sour cherry salad with toasted walnut-arugula pesto and 25-year-aged balsamic syrup.

That was also my choice for a main course—Bloomsbury Bistro’s entrees are heavy on the meat, and I wasn’t in the mood for a slab of steak or chop that evening. This moist dish hit the spot for me, combining a lot of flavors that don’t normally dance with each other on a plate. The pistachios were especially lovely, and the sour cherry did wonders for livening up the more mellow flavors of the pumpkin-gruyere risotto “torta.” I think the pear was overpowered by all the other delicious flavors, and I did want just a bit more of the rich balsamic vinegar, but I was quite pleased.

My companions, never ones to turn away meat, embraced the entrees. The pan-roasted chicken “cordon blue” was the most impressive to look at.

The chicken breast was stuffed with black forest ham and swiss cheese then served with a potato-parmesan gratin, asparagus, and herbed jus lie. Friend #3 thought it was pretty good, but she felt it may have been oversalted. I spent most the meal thinking the gratin was some sort of puff pastry—it looked pretty darn awesome in its arrangement.

Friend # 1 went for the mixed grill of pork loin and slow-roasted shoulder with lima beans, smoked bacon dumplings, and brussel sprouts “brandade” in an Eastern Carolina BBQ broth.

Again, the only complaint was that it was a bit oversalted. The final entrée was pecan-crusted NC winter flounder grenobloisse over roasted butternut squash with toasted peppercorn spaetzle, haricots verts, and lemon-caper brown butter.

If I had been in a meat mood, that dish would have been my choice, and I’m still a little sad I didn’t try the spaetzle.

We ordered four desserts for four ladies, and all of them were well received. My mascarpone “crème brûlée” with a spiced graham cracker crust and burnt brandy sauce was an imaginative presentation for a crème brûlée.

The texture of the marscapone in the crème brulee was grainy, making it fun to roll around my tongue. I liked the combination with the crust as well, though the brandy sauce could have been more lively.

The warm Granny Smith apple and Tillamook cheddar turnover in puff pastry with Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream sounded like a sweet adventure.

Friend #3 made many curious sounds as she discovered apple in one bite, then cheese in the next. I haven’t tried that particular flavor combination yet, either, so I’m sure I’d have been just as delighted by the experience.

The bittersweet chocolate “torture” cake, served with hazelnut praline sauce, raspberry puree, and chantilly cream, was, of course, a chocolate lover’s slice of paradise.

It’s a dense chocolate cake, and you need every bit of whipped cream to cut through it. Honestly, I was drooling just looking at that whipped cream dollop.

The best dessert was the butterscotch pudding with crumbled English toffee, whipped cream, and Godiva-liquor-spiked chocolate sauce.

Sometimes, a simple pudding is all you need, especially when you have a delicious chocolate sauce to complement it and some crunch from toffee. The butterscotch flavor wasn’t overly sweet, either—it didn’t make my teeth ache, just smile, as I tasted it.

Based on the packed house and intriguing pairings of ingredients you don’t often find together, I think Bloomsbury Bistro is definitely worth your dollar. You may find a little too much salt on some dishes, but don’t let that sway you from trying out what Chef John Toler has to offer.

Reviewed 9 November 11.

Geer Street Garden opened last spring, and it’s been a welcome addition to this fast-expanding area of town. Located in an old gas station, it’s a pub with a great beer list featuring plenty of local brews and a menu full of pub fare and seasonal menu items like sweet potato soup. The interior is pretty brick walls, a few booths inside the door, and a U-shaped twist into the small bar in back.

The lack of inside seating is a bit of a pain if you’re looking for a table on a crowded night, but outside is an appealing beer garden, complete with heat lamps, rows of blond wood benches, and lots of seating. The beer garden is definitely the draw here. Also popular is the Pile, a mass of French fries piled up with fried chicken bites, cheddar cheese, bacon, gravy, and a choice of two of their several fancy sauces that range from a sriracha and mayonnaise combination to a cheddar cheese dip .

It hits the spot if you’re looking for a greasy snack late at night, no question. Also good is the Corn ‘N Oil cocktail, which I reviewed a while back.

Geer St. Garden’s salads have been building up quite a fanbase, and I tried their cobb recently. It was refreshing and crisp. The quality of ingredients gives it a nice edge over your standard cobb.

On my most recent visit, I went for their simple, pasture-raised burger instead.

It was a satisfying burger, but I doubt it’s up to snuff for true burger aficionados (I am not one). That’s a huge pile of fries to go with it, and they are tasty, served with skins on and perhaps a little more limp than I enjoy my fries.

My friend had the rueben sandwich on that occasion, and she was pleased with it.

Lots of locals have expressed great love for Geer St. Garden and their relaxed atmosphere so far. I would call best suited for a late night end to the evening or after-work dinner and drinks. I wouldn’t necessarily go there for a dinner destination spot; it’s lacking a little oomph to me to be a draw beyond a casual place to stop when you’re out.

Reviewed 30 Oct 11.

Thursday morning, Ben and I left Los Angeles and drove up the 101 to Santa Cruz, stopping in vain to look for the first coffee shop I’d ever fraternized in my hometown of Santa Maria. Alas, it had been replaced by a Thai restaurant, so I was forced to continue another 30 minutes up the road to San Luis Obispo without caffeine. Why stop in SLO? To see my friend Rachel, a Cal Poly grad student, and my friend, Angie, a Cuesta College employee! We picked up Rachel on campus, and I must say, Cal Poly is situated in a gorgeous setting high up in the hills around SLO. It was also much smaller than I expected. We met Angie for lunch at the Shack, a little hamburger joint on Foothill. The burgers were pretty tasty, and I can’t complain about the giant serving of garlic fries. I loved seeing Rachel and Angie, though I hate that I forgot to take any pictures with them. Boo! But yay to a teeny coffee shop across the street from the Shack called BlackHorse Espresso. It’s apparently the third of a local chain, and their mocha with orange was delicious.

After a few more hours driving, and finding myself amazed that even the King City area looked gorgeous after not having driven through it in years, we arrived at my friend Sam’s house in Santa Cruz. Sam and John have a gorgeous home just a couple of blocks from West Cliff, and it’s always wonderful to see them—they rock. We wandered around downtown that night and tried out an ice cream spot that Sam raved about, The Penny Ice Creamery. It was definitely worth her praise, even in a town with Mariann’s ice cream to compete. The Penny is much more of a local ingredient-focused shop with flavors that scream “Foodies, lick this.” I was in love with the balsamic fig scoop I had.

When I’m in Santa Cruz, I usually have a few restaurants or cafes that I have to hit up, so Monday morning, it was time for the required breakfast at Café Brasil. Seriously folks, if you’ve been in Santa Cruz and haven’t eaten at Café Brasil—or just Brasil, if you’re a local—you are missing out. They have amazing Brazilian cuisine, and you must try their coffee and juice drinks. I always get the Omelette Brasiliero stuffed with delicious chicken and creamed corn. Like all of Brasil’s offerings, it comes with soft baguette rounds as well. And if I order the same menu item over and over, you know it has to be good. Usually, I have something different every time I go out.

After that self-mandated feast, we headed on campus at UC Santa Cruz to hike a bit of the Pogonip trails. My college is surrounded by hiking trails, and Pogonip on the east side provides beautiful hilly walks through the redwoods and unexpected meadows with views of the boardwalk and the coast from afar. Here are Sam and I; Santa Cruz is sprawling just beyond the meadow.

I love that town. After letting Sam recover from the hike (I really do wear people out), we went to pick up my friend Devon and spent the rest of the afternoon just hanging around downtown. I demanded coffee at Caffe Pergolesi, my favorite coffeehouse ever for its great drinks and the metal vibe that comes from a lovely Victorian being covered with crazy murals and artwork, students crammed into every corner of the house, and the lovely, lovely deck that surrounds the house. Basically, it makes me think I’m a badass when I’m chilling there. Fun fact: The “Dr. Miller” lettering painted on the side of the house comes from the original owner, Dr. Miller, who used the place as his home and dentistry in the late 1800s/early 1900s.

For dinner that evening, we tried a newer Santa Cruz restaurant in another old Victorian called 515. Lo and behold, it was also Dine Out Santa Cruz week, but I managed to forgo the tasting menu, opting for a cheese plate and a vegetarian pasta dish instead. Disregarding the fact that I think using your address as your restaurant name is thoroughly unimaginative, 515 was a great choice for a cozy, upscale, and relaxed feel in Santa Cruz, and there aren’t a lot of options for that in our hippie town. Their cocktail list was fantastic, and I definitely enjoyed the Phoenix, subtitled “Scott Summers is a tool,” that was made from gin infused with earl grey tea, a black pepper simple syrup, lemon juice, and egg whites.

We then stopped by Trader Joe’s to get some wine with the mission of getting Devon drunk, and called it a night. And what a lovely day it had been. The next one was just as lovely. We headed out to Capitola so I could 1. Try out a coffeehouse recommended by one of my Durham tweeps, and 2. Spend the afternoon walking the streets of Capitola Village, which is my favorite locale on the north side of the Monterey Bay.

The coffeehouse is called Verve Coffee Roasters, and it’s doing very nicely in the Santa Cruz area, now with three locations. This is their original locale on 41st Ave.

Just down the street, we got breakfast from the Chill Out Café, a little shack with a patio out back that specializes in gigantic breakfast burritos. It’s been a favorite of locals for years, but I’d never eaten there before. Portions are huge, and if a customer shows up with a kitten on a leash as happened when we were there, then all the better.

Fully fed, it was time for Capitola Village strolling. As usual, we found the best parking option was in the lot behind the Capitola sheriff station. It’s only a few blocks from the main enclave, and you get to walk by this:

Capitola Village, if you haven’t been, is composed of short blocks of shops and restaurants with all roads leading to the gorgeous beach. A lot of the shops are quite unique, so it makes for a nice day of gawking.

Fun kid shoes on display.

Devon, Sam, and I on the beach.

The Capitola Venetian Hotel, a big part of what makes Capitola such an attractive town.

The stream the runs behind the main Capitola strip was churning with water this time!

I’d never seen it raging like that before, and young body boarders were having a lot of fun riding those currents. I was rather jealous. But then, whenever I’m in that area, I’m jealous I don’t live there presently. Here is more reason why:

Ben’s never quite as enthused as I am.

Mariann’s ice cream is available at Capitola Village now, in one of the little cafes on a corner. Not planning to stop by their main store on this trip, I couldn’t pass by the opportunity to have more ice cream. I went for a triple chocolate masterpiece that was worth every calorie-filled bite.

Oh yes, you know you’re jealous now.

Eventually, we made our way back to downtown Santa Cruz and met up for dinner at 99 Bottles with a few of my nearest and dearest and their little ones. 99 Bottles is a favorite downtown because of their large beer selection—the food is pretty good, but I’m never quite as enthused with it as my friends are. The waffle fries are great, and there are plenty of burger and sandwich options worth your while. I am, however, incredibly enthused with Chocolate, a restaurant out in front of the Bookshop Santa Cruz. Their dinner menu is great, but the real draw is the amazing variety of hot chocolates and delicious desserts. Each hot chocolate comes with fantastic and huge ladyfingers. Try the Fuego with dark chocolate, cinnamon, and chipotle peppers or have the Titanic, a scoop of gelato floating in a sea of espresso.

All my lovelies gathered together at Chocolate, except Paul, who’s behind the camera.

Thus endeth my first two days in Santa Cruz. There’s only one more blog post to come, full of Santa Cruz pier and boardwalk photos. In the meantime, if you’d like to peruse more pictures of our trip, head on over to our photo site.

This horchata, Kraken rum, and Licor 43 drink is a vast improvement over its predecessor, La Leche, which I tried over a year ago at Dos Perros. What’s the difference? Only the Licor 43 and a larger serving. It’s possible that the rum has changed since then, too, as Kraken is a very distinctive and bold spiced rum—I’ve reviewed it before, too.

With this ingredient list, the Drunken Horchata reached a wonderful mix of spice, graininess, and richness from the rum. The Licor 43 was strong enough of a presence to be distinctive, and it worked well with the Kraken in drawing out the other horchata spices and making them stronger than just the glass of Dos Perros horchata would be by itself—I like my horchata spicy. If you enjoy horchata, licorice, and rum, the Drunken Horchata is definitely worth ordering.

Reviewed 10.22.11.

What was my mission? Trying out Los Angeles’s subway system. I am inexplicably fascinated with public transit systems (I own socks with the London Underground map on them), and I’d never tried LA’s. So I bought a far-too-expensive umbrella at Macy’s across the street from the hotel, and I hopped on at the 7th Avenue station, taking the blue and gold lines to the Chinatown station. The stop is really cute with an escalator covering designed to mimic Chinatown’s architecture.

View of Chinatown from the subway stop.

It’s only a block west toward Broadway and then a block north to the main Chinatown plaza from the stop, but in the rain, it’s not the best few blocks. And it turns out that Chinatown is virtually abandoned in the rain—or maybe that’s just a weekday thing. It’s still pretty nifty to look at, though.

There were a couple of Chinese restaurants open with cheap prices for lunch, but the spot that looked most appealing was actually Vietnamese: the Via Café.

Apologies for the blurry pictures, but I only had my cell phone to whip out here. I inhaled the beef banh mi I ordered.

I’ve only had a few banh mi sandwiches so far, and this one was very affordable and the largest I’ve seen. The freshness of the cilantro and carrot was welcome, but it was a bit dry compared to other banh mi sandwiches I’ve had. I also drank a Vietnamese iced coffee, and it was delicious.

After that, I had some time to kill, and the rain was petering off, so I decided to hop back on the subway and head down to the Pico station to wander around the Staples Center and find a coffee shop. I walked past the LA Convention Center on the way and snapped a picture of Adobe Max taking over the place.

That’s where Ben was for all our time downtown, and it’s right across the street from the Staples Center. This is the second time I’ve been around the Staple Center and the LA Live! retail complex across the street, and I have to give LA props for how appealing the area is.  Of course, being the entertainment city, the Nokia Plaza is covered in big screen TVs, which makes for an interesting visual.

The Staples Center is dotted with fantastic bronzes of sports figures that even I—someone who remains blissfully unaware of sports at most times—could recognize.

Magic Johnson

Wayne Gretsky

Oscar de la Hoya

It’s no coincidence that those three gentlemen are my standard replies for any trivia question about their sports. They are basically the only names I know.

Dinner was another opportunity for us to take advantage of DineLA! pricing, and my friend Donna suggested Bouchon in Beverly Hills, one of Thomas Keller’s restaurants. My foodie readers will know Thomas Keller as the chef and owner of the French Laundry, one of the most highly revered restaurants in the country. Three courses for $35 at Bouchon is definitely a steal, and spending the evening with Donna and Angela again made for a fantastic evening. First of all, the setting is lovely—you make your way past a beautiful, Spanish-style courtyard that also houses Bouchon’s bakery and the more relaxed Bar Bouchon, then you head upstairs to Bouchon proper, a large room bathed in sandy yellow walls with soft and warm pink lighting and plenty of greenery. The menu presentation was quite unique.

As is often the case, I started with a cocktail. Bouchon’s list is extensive and full of classic cocktails revisited as well as their unique libations. I chose a classic cocktail I’d never heard of before, and I’m still kicking myself that I didn’t write down the name of it. It was something either nautical or related to the Queen, and bourbon, cherries, and absinthe were the primary ingredients. It was also amazing.

Less amazing was the return of the braided bread like we’d had at Bottega Louie. While this type of bread is fun to look at, it’s way too hard for my preferences.

Those crackers you see toward the back and the white bean hummus served with them were much more appealing with a great mix of garlic to white bean flavor.

For each of our courses but dessert, we essentially had one of everything. The most interesting of the appetizers were the rillettes au poulet, basically a chicken pate with preserved meyer lemon, pecans, pickled grapes, frisée salad, and sprinklings of herbs.

Not only was it the most visually attractive, but the different elements reminded us of chicken salad, deconstructed. It intrigued.

Ben had an escargot dish that was on special, and he enjoyed it. I didn’t try any of the cute little bites.

My appetizer was the butternut squash soup with candied cranberries.

It was tasty, but honestly, I’m rather bored of butternut squash soups, and this one did nothing to dispel that. The cranberries were a zany idea, but they took away more than they added to the soup in smoothness and flavor.

We moved on to the entrees next. Angela had the sautéed gnocchi with vegetables and a brown butter sauce.

She was happy with it. I had a bite or two and thought the flavor lovely, but I like a little more zing in my food than brown butter supplies.

Ben’s choice was a lamb dish that I failed to get the description of. The rare lamb was served over figs and, I believe, spinach. Ben enjoyed it, but he prefers lamb in Indian dishes.

Donna’s selection was the poitrine de dorc, which is crispy pork belly with a butternut squash and forest mushroom risotto.

I didn’t try that one, being rather sick of pork belly on menus these days (yes, I’m sick of a lot of popular menu items lately, waah, waah, poor me), but I loved the colorful rings. Donna was pleased. I was beyond pleased with my choice, the truite grenobloise, which is pan-roasted Idaho trout, cauliflower, capers, lemon confit, brioche croutons, and brown butter.

I know, I know, I already maligned brown butter in Angela’s dish, but here, it was perfect. The whole dish was perfect, in all honesty. I was amazed with how well each element went together, both in flavor and texture. The brioche croutons were the stars of each bite, giving a buttery crunch that contrasted wonderfully with the succulent trout. I’ve never had trout prepared that well before. Highly, highly recommended.

Also highly recommended is the dessert that all three of us girls opted for, the passion fruit pots de crème with a coconut glaze and vanilla shortbread cookies.

It looks simple, and it was simple. Rich, subtle passion fruit was the prime element, and it was accentuated with each bite of the bright and buttery shortbread.

While the trout and pot de crème were the stars of my meal, we did manage to see a few genuine stars as well. Just after we were started, Adam Sandler, in his typical track suit, walked past us, making a little bit of a stir as he stopped to talk with a friend a few tables over. Soon to join him for dinner was another friend, this one dressed in a smart suit and much more petite than I realized from his films—Al Pacino. They took the table right behind Donna and Angela, and we somehow refrained from gaping the whole evening. Hooray for Hollywood!

That was certainly a great way to end our time in Los Angeles. We spent the night back at Christa and Joe’s place in Playa del Rey, and the next morning began the Santa Cruz leg of the journey. On the next blog, we’ll hit up Capitola Village—my favorite Santa Cruz area beach—and reunite with more cherished college friends, whom I miss far too much. There are some downsides to having wanderlust, after all, and having my nearest and dearest on the other side of the country is the hugest one of those. Oh, California homesickness, you never truly get better from this coast.

If you’d like to peruse more pictures of our trip before the next blog, head on over to our photo site.

The MGM 2010 pinot noir is simple and unassuming and I dig it.

Other Bloggers’ Thoughts:

Cheese N Truffles

This wine has a beautiful perfumed nose although my agreeable adjectives stop there.  I found this wine vegetal, malic, and hallow; definitely lacking character and a short finish, like drinking water.  Now, that’s not to say I won’t drink it …that would just be a waste of money, just expect a decent table wine and not sophistication when you pick this bottle up.

Can’t Stop Wineing, 2009 vintage

Nose: Sweet, dark cherry, red and black plum, licorice. Taste: The flavors on the initial sip are of very ripe plums and dark cherry fruit; the midpalate is cinnamon, brown sugar, heat, and astringency, though none of these are out of proportion. The finish is medium-to-long with flavors I can more closely describe as sweet plum liquor. This surprised me, and with the first two glasses, I was unimpressed and a little put off. But as I began to drink my third glass, I decided to drink it with the mindset that I was drinking just another red blend. The wine went down much easier and I was quite satisfied.

Pinot Now, 2009 vintage

It has aromas of cinnamon toast and cherry candy, with hints of raspberry and leather. It tastes smooth and light with penetrating yet balanced fruit and a great finish. At 12.5% alcohol, it’s worry-free, gulpable Pinot pleasure.

Reviewed 22 Oct 11.

It’s going for a hipster aesthetic with a focus on market-fresh, healthy ingredients and the colors of sunset in the Jurassic Age.

Tiara Café offers freshwiches (attractively arranged sans the bread), presswiches (pressed sandwiches), and pizzettes (I have no clue why those aren’t just called pizzas). For DineLA!, you get three courses for one affordable price ($15), and my sister and I shared our options. First up was a complimentary starter, the fried hummus sticks.

These were the best part of the meal for me, though my sister didn’t care for them. I have no idea how they managed to batter hummus to fry it, but the texture was amazing, as was the chile sauce served with them. If anyone in NC wants to try your hand at it, believe me, I will come eat your fried hummus sticks. That scrumptious plate was followed by the Great Balls of Fire, slow-smoked pulled pork encased in a mac and cheese shell.

These wanted to be awesome, but I was so busy being confused at the lack of advertised jalapeno pickle or any spice whatsoever, that I couldn’t tell you if they really were. Mac and cheese just does not shine in forms like this, where it ends up really dry for the novelty of serving as a shell rather than a side dish. The pork hidden inside was pretty good.

Our other appetizer was a California chopped salad. It was a mix of grilled vegetables on greens with avocado and a citrus-coriander dressing.

That was a great salad, especially the grilled zucchini and the light, vibrant dressing.

For main courses, my sister opted for the T-Rex Pizzette, billed “a carnivore’s delight of grilled steak, Spanish Chorizo, prosciutto, salami, and apple-smoked bacon on a crispy, bubbly, 24-hour rise pizza dough.”

It was pizza heaven for my sister, who is indeed quite the carnivore. I tried a slice, and it was fine, but I couldn’t find half the meats it listed on there. It was huge, though, so beware if you’re hoping to get off with a light meal! The pizzette is nowhere near as small as it sounds.

I chose the grilled achiote-marinated halibut enchiladas for my main course instead.

It came with beans in addition to the rice, but I asked for them to be left off. That orange sauce was a yellow tomato and habanero sauce. Folks, my sister can’t eat bell peppers; they are too spicy for her. She tried the sauce and had no problem with it at all. I’m still flabbergasted how something with habaneros could have been so flavorless, but it was. That said, the halibut and poblano inside the enchiladas were delicious, simply prepared and seasoned to shine. But I had my heart so set on the heat that was missing from both this and those balls of fire, Tiara Café was disappointing me.

Dessert changed that for the better.

The top dessert was a work of genius, the S’Mookie. It contained a graham cracker crust topped with caramel, chocolate, and a toasted marshmallow and served up with a nice ice cream. I am a sucker for all s’mores knockoffs, and this is definitely one of the better ones out there. The second image is of a lemon sabayon, an Italian custard dessert with an airy meringue cookie. My sister couldn’t eat it, thinking the hardened caramel on top was too burnt. She was right, but that didn’t stop me from demolishing that sweet treat, too. There was something addictive about the burnt flavor—I couldn’t stop myself from eating it!

After lunch, we headed up Broadway and took a right on 2nd St., making our way to Little Tokyo. We rested from our walking at the Kyoto Grand Hotel’s lobby—apparently, I don’t only wear Ben out on vacation sightseeing. Then it was up to the top floor to explore their rooftop garden.

The garden also affords a great view of the downtown LA skyline.

We then took a walkway from the hotel rooftop to Weller Court, a nearby plaza with a number of Japanese restaurants, a large Japanese market, and a Japanese bookstore.

I am unashamedly jealous of that sake selection in the market. Sake is in seriously small supply in North Carolina, and it’s a beverage I need to explore more.

Little Tokyo takes up a good six blocks, if not more, of the northeastern side of downtown LA. It’s mostly shopping and restaurants, but there is nice architecture tying the area together and a number of Buddhist temples to look at, at least from the outside. Here are the highlights for me:

A Challenger memorial, in honor of the Japanese American astronaut who perished.

Koyasan Buddhist Temple.

My sister taking advantage of my photo-taking habit to have another rest.

Japan Village Plaza from the other side.

That last picture is of Nishi Hongwanji Temple. It’s more off the beaten path, at 1st St. and Vignes St. The Japanese American Museum is located in Little Tokyo, but it appeared closed when we were there. We did, however, spend a half-hour at the Chado Tea Room, a tea seller located on the museum grounds. They have an impressive tea selection, and the staff was very pleasant, happy to share their new favorite tea with us. After I drank a whole pot, giving my sister more time to rest, of course, we continued onward.

I love stumbling across graffiti murals while traveling, and these pieces in small car lots on 1st St. were exquisite as far as my nondiscerning eye goes.

My final Little Tokyo shot before heading inside the Little Tokyo Marketplace for dinner was actually of the Centenary United Methodist Church at 3rd St. and Central Ave. I thought it looked splendid in that sky with its sharp angles.

Dinner was with Christa, one of her best friends, Angela, and our cousin Kelly at Honda Ya, a Japanese restaurant tucked into a mall that Christa’s had great experiences at before.

They had a more varied drink selection than we thought at first—plenty of Japanese beer and wine, but they also offered shochu, a starch-based spirit, and its cocktail complement, the chu-hi, which is shochu mixed with soda water and any of a variety of flavors like yuzu, peach, lychee, or whatever syrups are on hand.  Both the plain shochu and the white peach chu-hi I had were great. The meal was great as well, though I may have been a bit too adventurous this time.

Some of their sushi options.

The standard miso soup and side salad with ginger dressing.

I tried two new dishes to me. One was red snapper wrapped in banana leaves and then fried in a tempura batter.

That was rather good, with a sweet and sour flavor from the banana leaves that kept my taste buds interested. My second dish, bitter melon stir-fry with egg and bacon, did not sit as well with me.

I tried, I really did, but bitter melon is really bitter (imagine that, I know). It was overwhelming at first bite, but I convinced myself that it didn’t taste that bad after several more, only to find that yes, it really did a few bites later. The bacon and egg almost made it palatable for me, but ultimately, I was conquered by the bitter melon. I had to try it, right? I’ve always wanted to, and now I know that it’s an ingredient I can do without.

We bid adieu to Kelly and Angela,

then Christa dropped me off at the Rivera, a restaurant and bar that her friend Derek, met that first night downtown, had recommended a drink at. While I listened to the outdoor Weezer concert Adobe was throwing their attendees, including Ben, I found the right place. The Rivera is a swanky spot, and the cocktail recommended by Derek definitely fit the swanky bill—the Barbacoa.

That beautiful drink was made with mezcal (tequila is also an option), lemon juice, agave nectar, ginger syrup, chipotle in adobe, lime, red bell pepper, and beef jerky, those last two items being garnishes that give much more flavor than garnishes typically do. It’s a spicy drink with all the right proportions for a tasty, tingly treat. Let me tell you, the bartenders at the Rivera know their stuff. Watching them move is a treat of its own, and the talkative locals I encountered were also a plus. If you don’t mind paying for a great drink and the décor to go with it, then definitely try out Rivera.

Once Ben joined me and had finished his own Barbacoa, our hotel room was calling. Day 4 in LA was at an end. Never fear, there were more food and sightseeing adventures on the morrow, including Chinatown in the pouring rain and an extra special dinner at Bouchon in Beverly Hills, complete with celebrity sightings. Until then, if you’d like to peruse more pictures of our trip, head on over to our photo blog.

G2B is a gastropub located in the ill-fated restaurant space at the back of an office building near the intersection of Shannon Road and University Drive. You may recognize the location from when it formerly housed Starlu, or more recently, Restaurant Eden. Well now, it’s G2B, and it’s the first restaurant I’ve actually made it to there! For those who haven’t been, the restaurant is located in the back of the office building, so keep driving farther around until you find it.

Those aren’t the best indoor pictures, apologies, but it’s enough to show you that G2B is awash in blues and reds; in fact, there are shifting colored lights inside that keep the place in a state of flux as to the color scheme. I approve of such shenanigans. I also approve of the artsy lamps and the contrasting feel of the place in general. There are those swanky lamps and rich fabrics, but there’s also a row of couches/loungers complete with a Wii set and games to play with it. In other words, G2B is an upscale option for a relaxed night out with friends. Some might call those two concepts warring, but it works perfectly well for me.

The food follows the same premise in that it’s much more delicious and well constructed than it should be for that price. Honestly, with starters and sides from $3 to $4, small plates from $5 to $8, and entrees from $9 to $15, I think G2B’s offerings are a steal. There’s no one style of food that stands out; instead, there’s a mix of standard pub far classed up and choices like prosciutto-wrapped figs, gourmet pizzas, and grilled Artic char with brussel sprouts. Wine and beer lists are available by iPad, and they are working on a cocktail list.

I went to G2B with a group of friends who had also been chomping at the bit to try it since it opened last spring. We went for a wide range of their offerings, and opinions overall were high. Here’s what we had—though, I only have thoughts to offer on my stellar choices.

Goat cheese croquettes that at least one friend was in love with.

Sweet potato soup with garlic, ginger, cinnamon, and crème fraiche.

My roasted beet salad with goat cheese, candied walnuts, frisee, and vincotto.

Oh my stomach, people, that dish was amazing, one of the best I’ve had in ages. Every bite had so many lively flavors in it, whether the delicious roasted beet, the tasty zing of mint or basil, the crunch of frisee with lush goat cheese, or the sweet undercurrent of fruit from the vincotto. The shower of fresh pepper on the top made each bite pop no matter what was on my fork. I cannot recommend this dish enough.

My gnocchi with tarragon cream sauce and an arugula pesto was nearly as good, and nearly as good means outstanding in this case.

The gnocchi was fluffy and delightful, and the arugula was a great green for cutting through the richness of the cream sauce. I am unashamed that I ate every single bite of both this dish and the beet salad. In fact, I revel in it.

Other entrée choices, all well received though probably not given quite as high of praise as I gave my dishes, included the grilled pork ribs with coca cola glaze, cilantro, lime, and sweet onion slaw—

the pork shoulder confit with braised red cabbage, onion, apple, and fig mostarda—

and the tomato mushroom pizza with arugula pesto.

After I had gorged myself on my two fantastic dishes, I swore off dessert, knowing I just didn’t have it in me for more tasty treats. The table did decide on one option, though, and I agreed to take up the extra spoon that would come with it. It was a mocha-peach baked Alaska with red-wine-poached pears, cranberry-vanilla bean sauce, and coffee ice cream.

That’s a gorgeous baked Alaska, no? I thought the dessert, especially the meringue and coffee combination, was wonderful. The pears and sauce were dandy but unnecessary in my opinion—the baked Alaska was delicious all on its own.

We were shocked and delighted to be given a second dessert compliments of the chef, Carrie Schleiffer. I’d met Carrie once before, at a dinner thrown by Chef Sean McCarthy at [ONE], and it was so sweet to have her remember me and give us the chance to try G2B’s dark chocolate mousse bombe. It comes with a cranberry-red wine sorbet, orange chutney, and chocolate toast.

This dessert happened to be our waiter’s favorite, especially the cranberry-red wine sorbet. I have to agree with him there; that sorbet was to die for. The rest of the dessert was, of course, very rich and chocolately, but it couldn’t compare with the baked Alaska for me. I’d love to know how they made the chocolate toast, though! That was definitely a unique dessert component.

In case you couldn’t tell, I absolutely loved G2B, and I hope they defeat the curse of that location. I could easily see myself spending a lazy Friday evening there, relaxing near the Wii while noshing on wonderfully thought out food. Let me know if you’re in the mood sometime, and I’ll be there, appetite ready. Oh, and if you’re one of the friends who went with me, feel free to add your thoughts on your dishes!

Reviewed 18 Oct 11.

This wine strikes me as smooth right away. It’s full of bright fruit, but not tart fruit like so many bottle I drank over the past two months. The main notes are strawberry and a juicy, juicy plum with subtle spice and vanilla.

I enjoy how unobtrusive and delicious this merlot is. If you’re in the mood for an easygoing, sunny wine, this is a great choice.

Other bloggers thoughts:

Brain Wines

Nose: Blackberry, smoked plums, earth, barrel room, confectionery. Taste: Medium-full mouthfeel. Medium-high acid. Soft, full, and smoked plums. Red berries and cranberries. Extended finish for the price point.

Table Wine

Pale ruby in color, this Merlot has a subdued earthy nose with mushroom notes. Light to medium bodied, it delivers dry red-berry flavors with beefy undertones. Well structured, with supple tannins, it has a lingering tart-berry finish.

First Pour Wine

Smell: Raspberry, cedar, and black pepper are the front runners, but the wine pulls in nuances of fresh chopped ginger, licorice, chocolate, jalapeño, and soy sauce. Sip: Aggressive tannins and a full mouth feel are the forerunners for a slightly hot blackberry and cedar flavor.  Touches of leather and diesel accompany.

Savor: Alcohol and tannins maintain a strong presence but fade into blackberry and raspberry.

This merlot is quite interesting, but doesn’t have the softness that is sometimes associated with merlot.  It could potentially use another year, but it is a rather fun wine because of its complexity and unique smells.

20 Oct 11.

I determined that my agenda for the day would be lunch, wandering downtown (my regular vacation practice, no matter what downtown it is), and checking out the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). I opted for lunch at Arda’s Café, a sandwich and coffee shop right across from Pershing Square on 6th St.

The sandwich of choice was a Californian BLT, which is shorthand for the addition of avocado, of course. That’s essentially what Californian means on any menu.

And it was delicious. Avocado heals all wounds, especially ones no more pressing than hunger.

Fed and happy, it was time to start that wandering. Near the Jewelry District, I found this interesting sight.

That Mystery Girl mural was pretty awesome.

No idea what buildings I was looking at there.

Possibly my favorite shot from this trip. I love clouds on buildings. This was walking up Grand Ave., which is much steeper than it looks!

View from the sculpture at the Mellon Bank Center toward the Westin Bonaventure Hotel. LA, by the way, has a ton of financial office buildings.

And with that odd sculpture, I arrived at the MOCA. It’s $10 admission. I enjoyed the artwork there, but the museum is somewhat sparse and the lighting on the artwork wasn’t the best. The most fun piece was an installation on the ceiling of a hallway, made out of yarn or string.

That’s what it looked like walking under it, though imagine a lot more movement!

And this is the whole piece, meant to mimic a hot dog. Pickle is the word spelled out on top, and the yellow and red stand in for mustard and ketchup. The shifting perspectives from the string’s angles made walking under it a delight.

One of the most interesting pieces in the MOCA is in their standard collection, a pair of sculpted women who are awfully skinny and gray. I will give you no deeper ponderings than that.

After the MOCA stroll, I decided to head back outside and take in a few more LA sights, making a wide circle back around toward my hotel by heading down 2nd St. to Broadway, then hanging a right once I hit the Jewelry District again.

That’s the Walt Disney Concert Hall leading toward a view of the Los Angeles Mountains. Californians, believe me when I tell you that you won’t realize how much you miss mountains on the horizon until you don’t have them anymore. I miss them almost as much as I miss ocean views!

I came across the Los Angeles Central Market along the way, which is similar to the Los Angeles Farmer’s Market in that its focus is on foods in bulk but more on eateries. The difference is that the Central Market is all Hispanic foods and taquerias. I cursed myself for not having an appetite after lunch yet.

Row of beans and chiles for sale at one store.

I made my way south on Broadway, intrigued by the stretch of storefront that’s amazingly similar to San Francisco’s Jefferson St., full of tourist gear, quinceanera dresses, and cheap clothing. Broadway is not as cleaned up as Jefferson St., though. The Eastern Building, however, is a huge exception to that observation.

It was a gorgeous building that I encountered on Broadway the next day. Later on this one, I crossed back over to Pershing Square.

I really like that monument, though I have no idea as to its purpose. It definitely sets the square apart from its surroundings. So does the yellow courtyard that used to have some sort of function beyond hosting a cherry tree, I’m certain.

Though, that’s not a bad function at all. There’s also a rather poignant quote from Carey McWilliams in the square on how Los Angeles is an eruption of different people of the world. It’s definitely worth pondering if you happen by.

As night came, so did my chance to see two of my college peeps, Angela and Donna. We made plans to try out Bottega Louie together, which happens to be a very popular and trendy spot on a Monday evening—there was a huge line, and the place was a well-oiled seating machine.

Inside the restaurant.

The many desserts in the bakery case.

Just a few of the macaron options.

Bottega Louie is a mix of bakery and tapas restaurant, though they offer full-sized entrees as well. We opted for splitting a number of the tapas options and a pasta and rib dish.

Possibly the most mundane option was the calamari with a vegetable salsa.

Everyone had to try the portabella fries, even me. My verdict? Still mushrooms and therefore unappealing, but the rest of my companions liked the fries well enough.

This trenne pasta with kale and parmesan was probably the best of the meal for me, mainly because the texture of the pasta was so intriguing. It was pan-sautéed, and the greens went so well with it and the simple sauce.

Scratch that, those brussel sprouts in the back were actually the best dish for me. The scallops with capers were pretty good as well.

The short ribs with white polenta had a great, earthy flavor.

We did decide dessert was in order, and my second chocolate soufflé to try on this trip was soon at the table.

I have to give the win to the Charthouse in the battle of vacation soufflés; it was a lot richer and more succulent than Bottega Louie’s. We also tried their beignets with a raspberry sauce.

They were good, but I have nothing special to report on them. We tried to resist trying those macaron cookies, which are obviously Bottega Louie’s specialty and priced as any good fad food should be ($2/cookie!), but Ben, Angela, and I feel victim on our way out the door.

You can see their pyramids of macarons on the display case behind us. I tried the cinnamon caramel flavor, and for $2 a cookie, I expected to be unimpressed. Folks, it was divine. Now I know I love meringue already, so this sort of cookie is right up my alley, but that cinnamon caramel filling was much more luscious than expected. I only wish I’d bought the earl grey and pumpkin flavors to try as well!

Donna, Angela, and I on our way out the door.

The evening at Bottega Louie wrapped up Day 3 of our California trip, though Ben and I really ended it with a few drinks at that secret hotel bar I told you about earlier. On the next blog, I take you for lunch to the Tiara Café, then we’ll spend the afternoon investigating Little Tokyo and its plazas and temples. Dinner at Honda-Ya follows, along with my first taste of bitter melon, and then the evening ends with one of the best cocktails I’ve ever had. See you there! If you’d like to peruse more pictures of our trip in the meantime, head on over to our photo blog.

Normally, I’m a big fan of chianti because it’s mellow in a way that it makes mellow seem like an art form. This one’s not there. It smells sharply herbal with a tart berry undercurrent of currant or cranberry. It’s tart on drinking, too. There’s almost a fizz to it, but not like it has gone bad. A not-quite-ripe strawberry note is much more prominent in drinking than the dried fruits, along with strong, but thin, spices of cinnamon and clove.

It’s an interesting chianti, but not mature enough, I think.

Other bloggers’ thoughts:

Anna Uncorked, unknown vintage

This wine smells musty & old, and that is off putting, but it tastes ok. It even tastes better if you run it through the Vinturi. It was fruity, but for $4.99, I’d buy the Villa Cerrina. There is much better wine out there.

The Wine Cask Blog, 2004 vintage

Nice garnet hue with forward cherry aromas with less Sangiovese aromas than previously reviewed experiences with this wine. Light notes of licorice even rising. Classic Chianti flavors with a touch of rustic earth and a bit of cedar but quickly over lapped by Sangiovese fruit.

 Reviewed 10.17.11.  

Having heard of so many impromptu performances at this mystical shopping land called the Grove, near downtown LA, I requested that we spend an afternoon there this trip. And so we did!

That’s my sister and me at the fountains right after you exit the parking deck. What’s the Grove, you ask? Well, it’s an outdoor mall, and a pretty small one at that, but it’s nicely designed and a very appealing spot to while away the afternoon. I can understand why the celebs put in an occasional appearance.

That last one is of Steve Madden, one of those celebs. He was signing his merchandise in the Nordstrom’s. I swear I saw Sarah Silverman, too, but I didn’t look too close to make sure.

Turns out that the Grove segues right into the Los Angeles Farmer’s Market, which like many markets of the world is less about produce and meats for sale and more about small eateries and bakeries.

Oh, and dark chocolate spaghetti noodles.

I’m still kicking myself for not buying that to check it out. With a creamy citrus sauce, it just may have been amazing. Well, how about consoling myself with cupcakes filled with frosting on the inside?

Toffee? Brittle? Caramel?

I ultimately went for a slice of rolled black forest cake.

Despite the fact that there was absolutely nothing cherry about it, it was very good. My sister enjoyed some ice cream, and Ben decided there was no better place to have some lobster sushi.

To be honest, Ben thinks everywhere is a great place to have sushi.

Afterward, we headed back to Christa’s home to walk along the beach before the sunset. Turns out Christa had no idea there were tidal pools nearby with lots of crabs, urchins, and starfish. She pocketed several complete sand dollars as well—I consider myself a lucky charm. Luckier was being able to stay with them, because again, this—

–is just awesome. Again, Head here for the full panorama. Here are a few single shots of especially scenic sections of the beach and mountains.

Santa Monica called for the evening, and my cousin, Daniel, and Christa’s boyfriend, Joe, joined us for dinner and drinks at a few hotspots. Dinner was at West 94th and Jane, a relaxed pub with fun, experimental versions of pub fare. Ben and I shared the sliders with tater tots. They included a Kobe beef burger, one beef brisket, and one beer bratwurst. They were all fine, but none of them caught my fancy, and my confusion at the sliders fad continues. What did taste fantastic, however, was a menu item everyone at the table ordered: the Waygu beef burger that comes with barbecue mac and cheese (huge elbow noodles with chunks of ham and barbecue sauce). I don’t have good pictures, but believe me when I say you should try it. Mac and cheese is thrown into all sorts of dishes these days, but in this case, it really did make a burger better.

Again, no pictures, but we checked out a trio of Santa Monica joints known for drinks. At the Misfit, a trendy, Rat Pack type of bar, I partook in a KD Bees Knees, a gin martini made with lavender honey infused in-house. This was a wild choice for me—gin is a spirit that’s still growing on me. In this combination, I thought it shined. My less alcohol-familiar cousin thought it was too strong, though.
We then meandered to my sister’s favorite spot, Bar Chloe, which was much more of a lounge than the Misfit, with a cool-toned color scheme and low couches and chairs for mingling at. This is definitely a spot where the bartenders take pride in their wares, though I must say, they were slower making the drinks than I can grant to artistry alone. I tried the Chamomile Mai Tai, made with chamomile rum infused in-house, curacao, orgeat syrup, and lime juice. It was a lovely flavor, very light.

We ended the night sharing some wine at Sonoma Wine Garden, which has an absolutely fabulous rooftop setup. Planning a date night? It’s perfect.

The next day, Ben headed off to preconference shenanigans, and I went to lunch at the Charthouse in Malibu with the Gomez branch of my family. It’s a beautiful location off on its own over the water—directly over the water. The whole restaurant was taken at one point with a fisherman accidentally pulling up a stingray and trying his hardest to get it back in the water (he succeeded). I was excited to have West Coast fish and chips again; the East Coast preference of breading whole filets rather than strips just doesn’t do it for me.

Now prepare yourselves for the family reunion shots—I hadn’t seen them in two years, which is way too long.

My Uncle Mike and Aunt Penny.

My Uncle Gary.

My Aunt Angie and my cousin, Breanna.

My cousin, Mike, and my sister, Christa.

My cousin, Amanda, and her boyfriend, Bobby.
The chocolate soufflé at the Chart House was really worth it, and it’s rare I say that of a soufflé. Give yourself the time to order it!
My cousins and I headed out to Moonshadows to celebrate my cousin’s birthday after lunch, and let me tell you all, that place is a crazy scene. It’s like all the New Jersey folks with money and dyed hair coloring to burn congregate there on a Sunday afternoon, daring each other to show a little more skin in their bikinis. It cracked me up. Like Charthouse, Moonshadows is perched right over the water, and there, we were treated to dolphins swimming by. Oh California, even in the midst of overcooked beach beauties, you bring wonderful sights. It’s a gorgeous, cabana-like spot for a drink.
The evening ended downtown with great conversation with Christa and Joe’s friend, Derek, and then a stroll down Figueroa to the ICON lounge, where Adobe was throwing a party for their community group managers. That was place was swanky! I have no clue what it’s like on a normal night, or about drinks or anything because we came after the official party was over, but the view of downtown from their rooftop was stellar, and I dug the red fabric all over the place.
Next up: I discover downtown LA has a lot of pretty buildings, and a fun night with friends and macarons is had at Bottega Louie. In the meantime, if you want to peruse all the pictures, head to our photo website.

Languedoc, South France

This red wine’s nose is full of jammy blackberry-fruit-leather notes. It smells warm, with a smidge of potpourri essence to it. Aeration is important for appreciating this wine—-it tastes far too tight and tart without it, like cranberry and eucalyptus. Given some airing, the tartness is much mellowed. It’s buttery on first sip, quickly to be replaced by a bright plum. By the time it hits the back of your throat, bitterness takes over, making you wonder if someone forgot to remove that plum’s pit. It finally settles into a fairly earthy leather, which is not the best ending note. But hey, it could be worse. It could be undrinkable.

So, um, not the best wine for me, but I’m also not a convert to French wines yet.

Other Bloggers’ Thoughts

In My Glass

There are light fruits (berries brambles, black currant) and spices (including black pepper) on the palate. It’s well balanced.  My rating: Very good.

Connie’s Blog for Food and Drink

A wine like Castelmaure “Col des Vents” Corbieres offers a perfect introduction to the region, medium-bodied and spicy.

Reviewed 27 Sept 11.