Chicago Restaurant Week 2013: Part 2

Naan at Aria

I have to give fair warning for the next stop for restaurant week.  It is really good food.  The Google directions to get there are horrid.  I parked to eat at Aria about 30 minutes before my reservation and was 15 minutes late.  Aria is in the Fairmont hotel, and it was pretty much dumb luck that I ended up finding the place.  Once I got there, they were closing up from the lunch service but seated me anyway.  The place is very flashy yet elegant.  The first thing you'd probably notice would be the marble tables with peach accents.  The person who designed this place wasn't afraid of color and shows it with the vibrant black and red carpet up to the red overhead lights contrasting from the dark brown curtains.  The decor definitely fits with that Asian mindset and I must say I was reminded of my travels to Hong Kong by the warm and inviting atmosphere.

Short ribs at Aria

The Thai Ginger Kitana, immediately jumped out at me from the cocktail menu.  The drink was one of those dangerous types where the presence of alcohol goes completely undetected.  All you get is the tangy taste of sweetness combining with fresh lime juice and a little spice from the ginger.  Think of it as a limeade with a little bit of a kick.  The naan, is the bread offering there.  The naan is some of the best I've had and a welcomed change from the normal bread and butter that you normally get before a meal.  The naan stands up on it's own but it would be foolish to pass on the four tasty accompaniments.  The spicy spicy tomato chutney was my favorite, followed by the curry lentil.   The spinach and yogurt sauces were also good but not as memorable.

The beet salad scored extra points for presentation, displaying the bright colors of the beet are easily noticeable   The sweet beets go well with the spicy arugula.  The candied walnuts at sweetness and crunch and the tangy vinaigrette. Next up was the short ribs.  In this dish the star of the show was the greens. They were tender but not cooked to death, had a porky taste to them that reminds me of the greens I enjoyed in my childhood (and still do today).  The subtle soy flavor in the background added something that made these greens probably some of the best that I've ever tasted.  For me, the greens stole the show, which is a pretty tough feat to accomplish considering how good the perfectly cooked and shaped little spheres of potato were.  Not to mention how aggressively seasoned, yet tender the short ribs were.

For desert, I was served a platter of truffles.  One garnished with sesame that was made with dark chocolate  that was so decadent that you could feel the richness of it before it hit your palate.  The other dark chocolate truffle had a rich fruit flavor to it.  My favorite had notes of coffee cinnamon and you guessed it caramel with milk chocolate.  The only truffle I didn't care for was the white chocolate which was overwhelmingly sweet and tasted like a Hershey's cookies and cream bar minus the cookies.  It was the only thing of the day that completely failed for me.

Frisee Salad at Paris Club

For dinner I would eat at Paris Club.  It just so happened that Lettuce Entertain You restaurants were having triple points on the first day of restaurant week as well.  I couldn't pass up on the opportunity to do an early dinner around 6 and a late one around 10:30.  Huge failure on my part for selecting two French places, though I did get to do some good side by side comparison.  Paris club, is a moderately lit yet warm and cozy French place that takes a bistro type of feel and gives it a more modern and hipster sort of a vibe by playing mostly alternative rock.  The large windows open up the bar to the outside.  The place uses black paint as a backdrop to wood floors and tables as well as a few red brick accent walls.

Steak frites at Paris Club

For the first course I had a frisee salad.  I've had a similar dish before but this one was done slightly better.  The only downside of it was that the egg was ever so slightly overdone.  The salty lardons, went well with the lightly dressed salad.  The crouqetes, made out of bechamel ham and guyere cheese, were soft and delicate yet nice and crispy on the outside.  I ordered a Manhattan to drink, and it's about my favorite drink.  I didn't notice that at this place they add a little bit of cherry liqueur to the Manhattan.  I wouldn't mind a scant bit of it, but too much was added and it made the drink a little too sweet.

Raspberry Tart at Paris Club

Chicken Pillard at Mon Ami Gabi

For the main course, I enjoyed steak frites.  I will never understand for the life of me how the French stay thin when their idea of dinner is a steak, served with an herbed compound butter and fries to be dipped in mayo.  That being said I was amazed at how my very thin slice of New York Strip steak, could come out a perfect mid rare.  Elevated by the butter to near orgasmic levels of oral satisfaction.  The fries were tasty but many of them were in pieces that were a little to small to dip.  While my waitress was very knowledgeable in food, she had no idea about wine.  I wanted a wine that was only slightly fruity with lots of earthiness and depth, and the one she suggested was the definition of completely boring plain pinot noir.  The bartender redeemed things by letting me taste the perfect Cotes du Rhone that delivered on nearly all of the points that I desired.  Dessert was a tart.  It was like a light version of a cheesecake.  The raspberry flavor was subtle and it had a very buttery crust.

Then there was Mon Ami Gabi.  This place took a much more traditional approach to a French bistro.  Mosaic tiled floors,  dark brown leather booths, all French wines, and you were started with a loaf of warm baguette.  All of the food was just bland.  Of the three French Onion soups I had in this period of time, this one was a complete failure.  It missed the beefy quality of the under seasoned broth.  The chicken pillard was so bland that you thought it would have been seasoned by a slug.  Furthermore you didn't get any of the lemon flavor at all.  Even the worst of home cooks could do a better job with this dish.  It's only redeeming quality was that it was fully cooked.  The only redeeming quality of the place was that the service was phenomenal and my cocktail was the strong bold hit you in the face drink that I had been looking for.

Hallway at the Drake Hotel

That night I stayed at the Drake.  The hotel takes you back to a different era.  As you enter you feel  as though you are traveling through a time machine into the prohibition era.   It was the first hotel in Chicago to have air conditioning in every room.  One has to appreciate the ornate blue carpet and crystal chandeliers.  I must admit the rooms are very beautiful, but I appreciate the modern much more than the classic vibe you get here.  Also it wasn't that quiet.  I always heard some noise out in the hallway and if the Navy didn't teach me to sleep through almost anything, the noise in the hall would have been quite disturbing.

Inside the room at The Drake Hotel

The Undisputed Truth

I had very low expectations for a performance involving Mike Tyson.  When you think about it, who would want to see Mike Tyson box nowadays, let alone do a nearly two hour long monologue.  That being said my expectations were exceeded.  I went to the show since it was only in town for two days and the $30 price point made it irresistible to me.  Worst case scenario, I spend $30 and I get to say I saw Mike Tyson in real life.  Kind of worth it.  Best case scenario you actually enjoy yourself.
Mike Tyson is by no means an actor.  His delivery on some of his jokes was a little off.  That was made up for by the incredible amount of realness in his show.  He showed his vulnerability in explaining his childhood.  Growing up you realize how hard of an early childhood Tyson had.  You start to realize that more than anything, he was a victim of a poverty of opportunity for his early life.  His poor education as a middle school dropout and life of crime, shows how boxing became a natural fit for him since he always had to fight for everything.
The entire show is very crass, if you're offended by profanity or violent and sexually explicit humor, it would not be the show for you.  Tyson stutters a little when telling some of his jokes, but that has not much of an effect on how funny the jokes are.  He actually is a pretty decent story teller, and once you get past the Tyson voice, he actually portrays his story pretty well.
I can tell you with all certainly that I would have never thought that Mike Tyson, with a microphone and a screen showing pictures and video from his life would be successful, but it was well worth it.  I think it would have even been a good value even at two or three times the price.

Chicago Restaurant Week 2013

Chicago Restaurant Week is one of my favourite times of he year. It gives me a chance to try out a bunch of places that yes admittedly I would probably go to for full price, but it is good to go and sample new places without the pressure of a full price menu hanging over your head. Despite the $22-44 price tag, my bill usually lands in the sixty buck range including tax and tip.

On a whim I decided to have  a pre-restaurant week warm up at Girl and the Goat.  It happened completely on a whim as I got back pretty hungry and didn't know what I wanted to eat.  I just went on Open table and kind of booked it.  I had been meaning to try the place for a long time.  There has to be something to being the only female chef to win Top Chef.  From the moment I came in I was welcomed by very friendly staff.  My waitress, Allison, was very helpful and knowledgeable about the menu.  The place has a comforting feel, brick walls and wood floors, very much gives you that farm to table vibe.  Everything on the menu looked tasty and intriguing at the same time.  Immediately a few things jumped out at me.  The kohlrabi salad for one.  Kohlrabi is one of my favorite vegetables.  It kinda tastes like broccoli.  I never thought to try kohlrabi raw though.  The thinly sliced relative of cabbage came with a tasty ginger dressing. Additional crunch came from almonds, and the gooseberries gave a tart kick to it. Definitely my new favorite salad.

For bread I had the stecca.  The bread was grilled to be crisp without adding color.  It was very tender on the inside.  The genius part was serving it with a garlic aoli.  The bread was as stellar as I expected, considering Izard also opened the Little Goat Bread.  One thing that I loved was the fact that nearly every dish I ate had a little bit of bacon in it.

Filet at Wildfire Grill

My first night of Chicago's Restaurant Week, I enjoyed dinner at Wildfire Grill in Oakbrook with two of my friends.  Frustratingly, we had to wait for forty minutes for the table that I reserved online.  To make amends they bought an appetizer and dessert for the table. We started off by ordering the lobster stuffed shrimp. What better way to enjoy your shellfish than stuffed with more shellfish? The tender shrimp was topped with lobster and buttery breadcrumbs.  The steaks were prepared to my liking and the potato gratin was as cheesy as I desired.  Our server wasn't exactly the best, she was a little distant and not as attentive as I would have liked but overall it was a good place that I would go back to again.

Ravioli at Senza

The next night I had reservations at Senza, it was a little hard for me to find as the sign for the place doesn't exactly jump out at you.  I must have driven past it twice while looking for it and walked past it once before calling the place and almost immediately finding it.  It was one of those moments where as soon as she picked up the phone I found it.  I wanted to do the wine pairings with their menu, but they had a Bourbon cocktail with mint and Thai chilies that I just couldn't resist.  I sat for a bit with the Bourbon drink.  It started off very strong and bold and as the ice melted, it would get a more subtle and mellow minty flavor.  It was probably one of the better drinks I've had in a while and I really wish this place had a bar because the drinks were phenomenal.  For the first course was this very rich and buttery duck confit with ravioli.  The huckleberries brightened up the dish and it was well balanced with the pea tendrils that were a little bit spicy and almost became the star of the dish.   The saffron was used perfectly to give delicate floral background notes without overpowering into a potpourri like nightmare.

Next up was the Parsnip Soup.  It was pureed to a magical velvety texture and the rich lobster was a good addition.  I almost thought that it wouldn't work and the progression  of the dishes would have been a bit off and the parsnip soup should have been served first.  I was proved wrong though.  After the richness of the ravioli, I wanted something to kind of brighten up the palate again and the pear that was present in the puree did just the trick.  The rich and delicate lobster kept things from getting overpoweringly light and was very satisfying. 

Fois Gras at Senza

Then there was a moment of culinary awesomeness as I was sent out some free fois gras.  I had only had fois gras a couple of times before and I usually stay away from it because of the treatment of the geese.  That being said, you could almost overlook the fact that those geese are force fed corn after you taste the rich and delicate lightness of this fois gras.  There is a a fine line between rich and tasty and greasy and this dish did a tap dance around that line like Sammy Davis Jr.  It pushed the boundaries of fattiness and was absolutely devine.  Combined with that custard topped with a brulee of sugar and you are blessed with that divine combination of salty and sweet.  It is pretty ironic that the best dish I enjoyed during restaurant week was free, but this one offered everything, from the variations of texture from the soft delicate fois gras ascending the scale to the crunchy caramel corn.  I have to admit, I am a little biased towards loving it simply because it has one of my favorite things in the world (caramel), but that doesn't take away from the fact that it was a a really good dish.

Pork Belly at Senza

Given the choices between scallop, tagllatelle, and pork belly for the main course, it was a pretty easy pick for me.  Not to say that I don't like scallops or pasta, but nothing beats pork belly.  Almost nothing ever.  I have a friend who hates strawberries and I sometimes think that he is a little evil on the inside.  That being said I wish the pork belly came with much more of the compressed strawberries.  Senza, seems to play a lot with using sweetness throughout their savory courses and I can't deny that it is a winning strategy.  Combining the pork belly with that absolutely divine maple creme fraiche was genius.  You get earthiness from the watercress and carrot.  A little bit of tartness from the strawberries.  I only have a couple of complaints about this dish, one is I wish there was tons more compressed strawberries on the plate, probably twice as much.   Also, one of the strawberries was unexpectedly extremely tart, though the rest were very tasty.

White Chocolate Mousse at Senza

I wasn't surprised that since there was so many sweet elements in their savory dishes, that a unexpected savory element was added to the the dessert.  The miso and rosemary was that little extra tasty something that makes you go hmmm, what is that.  The tart raspberries were an absolute triumph and attention was still kept to balance of texture by pairing the light airy mousse with a crunchy pumpkin seed crisp.  I'm not that big of a chocolate fan but the little bit of cacao powder was appreciated.  The coffee should have come with one of those McDonald's warnings.  Seriously I could have sued them, it came out boiling hot. 

I couldn't pass on the rum cocktail because it had apples and caramel in it.  It was a hit  for me because of the almost excessive foaminess.  Overall I had a good meal at Senza, the only downside would be the incredibly loud table that was next to me.  The decor is definitely set up to give off a romantic vibe.

As you might guess, four courses with wine pairings and two cocktails had me a little bit too intoxicated to take the half hour drive back home.  I decided to take a taxi to a hotel for the night.  I stayed at theWit.  The hotel lobby was pretty busy at around 1 am when I made it there, and the bar had a very energetic vibe.  I went to my room which kept up with the very modern upscale vibe.  I would definitely stay there again, and it is worth the extra few bucks, especially if you plan on drinking at the bar on the 27th floor.

Breakfast at Uptowner Cafe

No breakfast is complete after a night of drinking without one of my favorite's Eggs Benedict   I would enjoy the Uptowner Benedict.  I chose the Uptowner Cafe on a whim, simply because it had a 20% off yelp offer.  The food is tasty and straightforward.  The eggs were perfectly poached and that spice was delivered by the andoullie sausage and the tomatoes added a nice touch of acid to this non-traditional play on Eggs Benedict.  I would definitely eat there again considering the amazingly reasonable prices for their huge portions.

San Francisco

My trip to San Francisco started off with a ride on my favorite airline, Virgin America.  I don't mind flying for the most part as demonstrated by the fact that I take tons of flights a year, but Virgin actually makes flying enjoyable.  Their flights are never late.  The staff is about as friendly as you could possibly be outside of inviting you over for dinner. The great benefit of the airline is the entertainment options.  Each seat has it's own screen. You can watch live TV via Dish Network or they have plenty of on demand options for movies and music.  The purple lighting also helps you to be much more relaxed as you fly.  You can also order any items you might want food or drink wise from this screen.

I arrived in SFO quite hungry as I elected to sleep the whole flight away rather than eat anything on the plane.  Once I was there I had one thing on my mind to eat.  One of the best and possibly cheapest sandwiches I've ever had.  More on that in a moment but first things first and that meant checking in to my hotel room and dropping off my bags.  San Francisco is definitely one of those cities where it doesn't make good since to have a car.  Parking is scarce and expensive, and public transportation in the city is beyond fast and efficient (As long as you can keep up with your BART card which I have trouble doing.  I often return home and find two or three of them in my wallet).  Though if you're not up for short walks (and even some of the shortest ones can be deceivingly tough thanks to the hills.

View from my hotel room

The hotel I chose to stay in was the Hilton Financial District. It was about a quarter of a mile walk from the Montgomery street BART Station. The financial district is very close to Chinatown and my walk took me past a variety of little restaurants boasting a very appetizing aroma. I got to the hotel and was upgraded to an executive room with a view of the Bay. Typically I am not a big fan of paying extra money for a good view, I don't see the value in it. That being said, this view would have been worth shelling out a little extra cash. From my room I had full view of the San Francisco Bay. I could see iconic landmarks like Coit Tower, Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. The large TV in the room seemed almost unnecessary as I could gaze out of the window almost endlessly. The room was set up for form and function with a very large desk, which I made use of almost immediately as I sat down to look through my Foursquare checkins so I could be on my way to my back to get the Bahnmi sandwich I wanted so very badly.

Foursquare is a kind of fun geolocation game, but I use it more or less as a method of keeping track of the places I've been in case I ever want to go back. In this case I made the mistake of not checking in. Disaster, absolute heartbreak. I thought I would never find my beloved again. I overcame my despair by doing fervent searches for places that sold Bahnmi, however that turned out to be much of a fools errand since there was tons of places that sold bahnmi. But I didn't want an imitator, I wanted my sandwich. The one I fell in love with on first bite. The tender roast chicken. The sweet sauce that is well spiced. The shredded carrots, the bright cilantro. I wanted the chewy bread. I wanted a sandwich so good that I would easily pay ten times their $3.50 asking price. A sandwich so epic I salivate writing about it. As a stroke of almost dumb luck, I clicked on a yelp entry and saw a picture of the green menu board with tacked in white letters and I knew it was my place. Siagon Sandwich is very much a to go place not far from the UN/Civic center station. The orders are simple and straight forward , not too many options on the menu so ordering is easy. I got my two sandwiches, one pork and one roast chicken. One sandwich is more than enough to be fulfilling if I was of average everyday hunger. Still the sandwich was severed up within a minute of my ordering and before I could even take the three steps from the counter to the door I was enjoying my first bite. 

I would finish my sandwich as I took the walk back to the BART station which takes you past the city hall and United Nations Plaza. In the plaza there were plenty of vendors, and I couldn't pass up on some of these amazingly sweet blood oranges and tangerines. It was too much of a bargain in my eyes at a mere $1.50 per pound. I got back to my room to further plan out my evening and I found out two great things. One was San Francisco Dine About Town was going on at the time and the other was that Wicked was in town. Dine about town offers three courses at participating locations for $40. This was perfect because I obviously love food and also I had been wanting to see wicked for ages. 

I did some searching and ended up having dinner at Le Central Bistro which was just a short walk from my hotel. I looked through the menu for a short period of time before deciding on the crab cakes for my first course. The presentation was phenomenal. I just wish the flavours were equally as stunning. The burr blanc was kind of mediocre, though I must admit the crab cake was very meaty and a good portion of crab. Everything just seemed slightly under-seasoned. Things picked up with the second course. The Beef Bourguignon was a perfect marriage of tender beef and red wine. The carrots were soft yet not overdone and it was a very comforting dish for the slighty chilly northern California evening. Things continued to get better with the creme brulee. I'm not much for sweets but this one was done perfectly. I'm usually sort of unimpressed by creme brulee, by this one was perfectly creamy and not overpowering with sweetness. The smooth vanilla texture went along well with the tasty caramelized sugar. Admittedly I am a sucker for caramel. 

Outside the theatre

Back to the BART and over to the Orpheum Theatre. I headed to my seat after a short wait and waited for the production to start. The play starts off a little goofy, but it is very clever and spotted with lots of witty jokes. It was a good story line but I didn't care for the voice of the leading good which Glinda. Otherwise the production was very entertaining. The drink that they served at the production that I can't recall the name of is quite tasty and has Absinthe and cucumber. 

Breakfast the next morning was from Caffe DeLucchi. The Cafe is situated in the North Beach area which boasts tons of really good Italian eateries and coffee shops. The area like all of San Francisco, has tons of foot traffic so I decided to sit outside for prime people watching since it wasn't as chilly as the previous day. I really couldn't decide what I wanted to eat, and was eventually talked into the Cajun Etouffe Polenta. The polenta was excellent, rich and creamy and cheesy. The mimosa which used fresh juice and a good quality sparkling wine went perfectly with it. The andouille sausage gave things a nice spicy kick. The shrimp were nice and tender and not rubbery. You can tell the freshness of the seafood. Biting into one of the shrimp was like biting into the ocean itself. 

I rented a car from National to drive down to Santa Cruz. I decided to try the Maxima, and I wish I had went with my first mind and stuck with the Camry I am used to driving. That deceivingly large screen in the vehicle wasn't a navigation system at all. No USB, no Bluetooth. I was stuck with terrestrial radio. It was only an hour drive to Santa Cruz so I toughed it out like a real trooper. As far as the car goes, it was comfortable fast and efficient, but completely lacked all of the features that I want in a car. The drive to Santa Cruz is pretty scenic and fun because of the numerous twists and turns in the road. I wish I would have had the BMW there because that car handles so much more nicely (though it is almost better that I didn't because I would have definitely got a speeding ticket). 

I arrived at the Hilton Santa Cruz and there was a little bit of construction going on the Lobby. I checked in and was upgraded to a whirlpool suite. I wish the stay was longer so I could really take advantage of the room. All in all it was an incredible value. The hotel's location isn't exactly prime, being about a 10 min drive from the boardwalk, but it makes up for it with a beautiful mountain view from your room. I still can't believe how cheap the room was. I took a walk on the Santa Cruz boardwalk, browsing through a variety of different stores. My favorites were a comic book store Comicoplis, and Streetlight records. I am quite a bit of an audiophile. My music collection has over twenty thousand files. Yes, I bought all of them, mostly via CD. This place gave me a sense of nostalgia for a time long passed as I was able to browse through plenty of new and used CDs and Vinyls. I will occasionally buy music digitally, and though I listen to most of my music digitally, nothing beats that initial experience of ripping off the shrink wrap and thumbing through the album credits. I know there are digital booklets but it is not the same. It's part of the reason why I still buy the somewhat old fashioned CDs for artists I really love and go with digital purchases if I don't care as much. The comic store was kind of small but catered to my inner geek. I never really read comics, and probably would never read a comic book but it'sone of those things that is really fun to browse through. 

I eventually made my way to a bar just off Pacific Avenue called 99 Bottles of Beer. I had to go just because of the name. The place is a beer drinker's heaven offering an overwhelming variety of beer. I decided to try out their cheesy garlic fries and was sadly very disappointed. The fries used that jarred garlic which gives them this unappealing vinegar taste. That being said I would be willing to go again because their service and beer list was very good. I would probably just go full. I also made a short stop at Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Company. It is a very large coffee shop and the service was fast and the prices cheap. All their drinks come in one size so it makes ordering a breeze. 

I always have to do at least one vegetarian dinner when I'm in California. I have toyed with the idea of going vegetarian or vegan several times and I love really good vegetarian food. The thing is when it comes to that particular genre of food, either it is very tasty and satisfying and you don't even miss meat at all or you're served some bland tasteless pile of crap that simply angers you to no end. I ended up eating a Darmha. The eggplant Parmesan was the special and I decided to go with it and a apple juice with ginger. The juice was fresh and tasty. The eggplant Parmesan was made with good quality mozzeralla that stretched forever when you took a bite. You could see and taste the fresh basil running through the rich and slightly sweet tomato sauce. 

I would enjoy mostly complementary breakfast (The hotel had to loose money on my stay). Continental breakfast was free but for another $7, I was able to enjoy a full breakfast. It was nothing to brag about. Just a buffet of your standards like Bacon, eggs, potatoes, sausage, oatmeal. Exactly what you would expect and the fresh OJ was a nice addition. After checking out I took a drive up to Napa Valley and visit three wineries. I was hoping to to more but was well on the way to not being able to drive after the first three. 

Sculpture at Artesa

First up was Artesa. Artesa is a beautiful winery and as you approach you are able to see the great architecture. The steps up to the tasting room are adorned with gentle flowing water and at the top you are greeted by beautiful sculptures and flowing fountains. None of their wines that I tasted were fantastic or worth the price tag in my opinion. I'm very much go for value when buying a bottle of wine, I'm willing to pay sixty or seventy dollars for a bottle, it just better taste six or seven times better than a ten dollar bottle. 

The next stop was Madonna winery. They were very friendly, and this winery only grows organic. The cab that I tasted was phenomenal and would have been worth the price. All of their wines were quite tasty and have the earthiness and big fruit that I desire in a wine. It was quite a good stop. Usually how things work whenever I visit Napa is I plan on visiting a few wineries but on the way form point a to b, you have to pass by like 3 wineries, and who can help but stop? Domaine Carneros was the priciest of the three stops on the trip. Granted I did get to taste a pretty big cheese platter and also had waiter service, I wasn't expecting the $40 price tag. Their reds were abysmal. Prototypical super light Pinot Noir. Almost non existent as far as taste goes. On the other hand, their sparkling wines were quite wonderful. Some of the best bubbly I've tried in quite some time. 

Wine and Cheese at Domaine Carneros

Dinner was at Uva, and it didn't quite live up to what I had in my head as how good it was. It wasn't that the food wasn't good. It was quite tasty. Calamari was perfectly crisp. Pasta was a perfect al dente. The remaining portion that I heated up later was a lot tastier. I guess my first time I went here I built up an unreasonable expectation in my head. Then again I didn't get the gnocchi again. Shame on me for not sticking to the script. I'm not saying that the food there wasn't great because it was. It just isn't a go out of your way to get there place which in my mind it was the first time I went there. 

Domaine Carneros

Finally I checked into the Hilton Garden Inn San Francisco Airport to catch some Z's before flying out. The hotel was undergoing renovations to their lobby, so to accommodate they offered free breakfast. It is a mediocre airport hotel, nothing fancy. The breakfast buffet continued this vacation's trend of cold potatoes though. I would enjoy my flight back via first class on Virgin America. The upgrade cost me $139. Here comes me harping on how awesome of an airline Virgin is. For that price, I was able to get unlimited drinks, a three course meal and a checked bag. You also get access to all of the movies offered on demand for free. I ended up watching Premium Rush. I chose it because it was the shortest of the movies and I wanted to try to see two. It was actually a good movie especially if you have a short attention span. Simple plot and easy to follow and much better than I thought it would be. For dinner on the plane there was a beet salad with goat cheese (I love beets, but it seems like every place I go to lately has a beet salad). For the main, I chose the Waygu Cheeseburger. The burger was so huge that you would have never believed it came from an airplane. Virgin's airline food is not like your typical airline it is actually pretty tasty. I would be happy to pay for that meal in a restaurant and not on a plane.

Augusta, GA

Next stop on my trip, was to see one of my best friends.  I took a few hour drive east in order to spend some time and have some drunken debauchery with my friend Brandon.  It was a short drive over.    On the drive over I stopped at Zaxby's.  If there is anything at all I miss about living in South Carolina, it is Zaxby's.  It's like Chic-Fil-A, but better.  Also hate free.  Zax sauce kills.  I had the Zaxby's club which is a sandwich with their chicken finger's served on Texas toast.  The food is pretty simple and the crinkle cut fries with seasoned salt brings back childhood memories.

After a stop at the liquor store, I came to the realization that I didn't drink hard liquor for a long time. I had no clue what I wanted.  Brandon was going to go with his staple of spiced rum.  I'm not the biggest fan in the world of spiced rum so I eventually settled on tequila.  Avion in particular.   We were shoping in South Carilona so they have this weird rule about not selling beer where you sell hard liquor so we had to go next door where I bought some Allagash Black.  I'm a big fan of Allagash and I love the Allagash White, which makes Blue Moon taste like Bud Light in my opinion, but I've never tried Allagash Black before.  It is a nice smoky dark stout.  When it comes to beer I kinda dip my toes into a little bit of everything.  I'm a huge fan of Belgian Style Ales, Stouts and Porters.  I rarely have a IPA that I love but when I do it is awesome.

My niece holding an accurate sculptural representation of me.
She's not looking at the camera because I gave up or she didn't care.

Avion is a good Tequila.  I had been wanting to try it ever since I found out it was a real product after seeing it in Entorage.  I wish they wouldn't have ended that show.  I have to endorse Avion as a better taste and better value than Patron silver, which has been my my premium tequila of choice up until then.  Avion is a bit lighter and less harsh than patron.  My favorite value brand of tequila is Hornitos.

Firehouse Subs was the next stop for lunch.  Though it is a chain, you gotta love a place that's started by firemen.  Firehouse Subs is what I think Quizno's should be.  I ended up looking at the menu for a very long time before deciding to get the Engineer.  They also have that crazy soda machine that gives you like a million options.  I hate them.  I don't like the idea of having quite that many choices.  This is mostly because I like to try just about everything.  I only really order the same thing multiple times if I think that it is really good.  Variety is the spice of life.  The other reason why I am not a big fan is that I do not care for soda that much.

Anyhow we took the food back and gave us some good time to eat as long as some time for much needed bonding with my favorite unrelated nieces.  The sub shop does give out little helmets for the girls.   I gotta say I love the title of honorary uncle.  I many of the perks of parenthood like seeing the joy on their faces when I give them a gift.  Though I don't have to deal with the discipline or responsibility end of the spectrum.

Dinner was take out from this awesome pizza place called Mellow Mushroom.  The place has a pretty awesome beer selection.  It is a chain and the serve gluten free pizzas.  I let my inner foodie out and ordered way too much food.  We got the Holy Shitake Pie, Bayou Bleu, and Thai Dye.  Clever pizza naming if you ask me.  Wings were on sale for the normal G-Unit rate (50 Cent for those who aren't familiar with rap).  I had to try the sweet Thai chili wings and jerk wings.   I must admit, nothing was particularly bad.  But nothing opened my eyes into pizza and wings glory with the exception of the Holy Shitake Pie.  It is an absolute symphony of earthy mushroom flavor.  The garlic aoli adds beautiful richness and brightness up the pizza with a little bit of acidity.  Add on the caramelized onions and you've got a winner.

Sweet Home Atlanta

Sign for a church near the stadium.  Fortunately they only rose up in the first quarter.

I love sports. Since my mom had the best idea ever to give me a Jerry Rice jersey in my youth, I've been a fan of the San Francisco 49ers. Even through the bad times and our first #1 draft pick. Things have turned around though and with several years of great drafting, we finally have the right coach. Knowing that the Niners would be playing the NFC Championship game against Atlanta, I quickly went on the ticket search. I was on ticketmaster when they went on sale. The tickets were unbelievable. 20 rows up on the twenty yard line.

I ended up having a sort of breakfast the morning of he game with one of my friends in the Atlanta area. We had Pho from Saigon Cafe Duluth (3675 Satellite Blvd). I love Vietnamese food and this Pho was particularly tasty and authentic. I chose the Pho Tai Nam. A medium bowl of not consisted of rare steak and well done flank steak in a tasty broth. The soup was extremely satisfying. Nothing to brag about here it was a pretty straightforward dish that screamed of authenticity. Tucked away in the strip mall the pho I had delivered on earthiness. The savoury beef combined elegantly with the noodles and garnishments of herbs. You also had the nice crunch and change of texture of the bean sprouts. The Thai Tea Boba drink was a tasty way to wash it all down.  I've got to say those little tapioca balls are awesome in a drink.  

View from my seat at the end of the game

I had to rush to make it to the game in time.  I took a 1 mile mix of jogging and walking from The Hilton (255 Courtland Street NE, Atlanta, GA) through Centennial Olympic Park to the Georgia Dome (That's five football stadiums down for those keeping track of my attempt to go to every stadium in the league). but I still got there in well enough time to see the introduction of the best team in football be meet with overwhelming boos. It was by far the loudest game I've ever been to.   The Falcons introduction is pretty impressive.  I gotta say I liked it how can I hate Samuel L. Jackson being backed up by a choir.  I sat next to a kind lady that has been going to Falcons games since 1966 and had had season tickets since the 80's. Got to admire her dedication.

The game got off to an awful start as the the Falcons rattled off 17 points to a big goose egg for the Niners as I sat there with a face filled with both anger and disgust as to how Julio Jones seemed to be unrecoverable as far as the defense of San Francisco was concerned. This feeling was escalated a little by the people around me not being able to recognize the subtle nuances between the red jersey I was wearing representing Patrick Willis of the 49ers vice some ridiculous Falcons jersey. I can't count how many times I was tapped on the shoulder for high fives when the Falcons scored. The fans were nice they kept saying things like it's just a game and it's early to cheer me up. Luckily my team ended up doing most of the cheering me up by coming back to win that game.

Post game was tracking down a good burger at the Vortex (438 Moreland Ave NE). I can't remember what show I saw this place on some TV show.  Probably triple D... Anyway, this place is a biker bar turned hipster bar.  It still has a metal theme, and a unique quirky vibe that is prominently recognized as soon as you walk into the giant mouth with the swirling eyes.  The menu is also a pretty fun read which contains a lot of cool quips.  In doing my research before going I almost decided not to go because the website says the restaurant is smoking.  I don't mind smoking for the most part, but not when I'm eating.  It is one of those activities that I feel should be done outdoors.  Because of Georgia state law regarding smoking in restaurants, it is an 18+ establishment.  I didn't see any smoking going on on the inside of the restaurant, as though now I think it is common practice to step outside to smoke.  We ate upstairs in the nonsmoking section and weren't bothered by smoke.  This comes as an extra bonus for me having the intention of relaxing with a meal and good drinks.

The wait was short and they don't accept reservations (as expected).  All of the appetizers looked great but I decided to go with the Dixie Fries.  Whoever thought of this was a genius.  How do you take the classic Canadian dish of poutine to the next level?  You upgrade the regular gravy to sausage gravy and add bacon bits.   The french fries were crispy  except for the few that really soaked in the gravy.  The only improvement I would suggest, is burning the sausage a little bit.  I like sausage burnt for some reason, I guess it is just a matter of personal preference.   The gravy was perfectly balanced and how they didn't make the entire dish too salty is a major accomplishment.  It seems like a simple dish, but there are so many places for it to go wrong and then you're left with a salty greasy mess.

The burger list was vast.  I was intrigued by the Fat Elvis (peanut butter, bacon, and fried bananas) and the Coronary Bypass (Fried egg, 3 slices of cheese, 4 slices of bacon).  I eventually ended up wussing out of getting either of them and ended up with a burger that had their house made chorizo mix.  I had to try it, I love chorizo.  Plus the hunger was finally getting to me after not eating for several hours and I wanted something safe when I made my initial order. I will go back one day though.

This was my second time staying at the downtown Atlanta Hilton.  I went with it again because it was pretty cheap.  I could see much of the city from my room on the 26th floor.  The rooms are very bright and inviting.  I felt as though I had more than enough space and a pretty decent view of downtown Atlanta.  The elevators are absurdly fast.  The hotel has an array of 8 elevators, four of which are completely enclosed to accommodate the needs of the acrophobic.  For the more adventurous, there are two elevators open to view the vibrant Atlanta cityscape on your assent to your room as well as two others that are open to allow you to see the decor of the hotel.  If you're anything like me you press the button, get on whichever elevator shows up first, then once you're realize you're on a open elevator you scramble for your camera only to reach your floor before you're able to take a picture.  Epic fail.  All in all it was a great value and worth a four star rating from me.  I even scored free parking at check out.

I continued my trend of Asian themed breakfast around lunchtime at Honey Pig.  I've got to admit when it comes to Korean food, most of the time the main staple of kimchi makes me want to gag.  My experience usually ranges from somewhere in between edible and pretty tasty.  This was not sadly not exactly my cup of tea.   The sauces were good but the meat seemed a tad under seasoned for my taste.


At the suggestion of my friend there was another stop at a chain restaurant Bone Fish Grill.  There we had a couple of drinks and snaked on appetizers.  Everything landed in that nothing to write home about category.  The following location was McCray's Tavern.  It had a pretty decent beer list, though the food was again pretty pedestrian. 

Home Sweet Home

There are some places that I absolutely have to go and thing I love to do when I go back to Miami. Growing up there and then not living there for a long time I am always surprised by how much the city grows and develops every time I return home.

My vacation got off to a rocky start that turned amazing. I can't emphasize this enough, when you are travelling, be nice to the cashiers, flight attendants, desk clerks, etc. I bought my tickets to Fort Lauderdale a few months early. I was worried that I was going to get bumped from my flight since I wasn't given a boarding pass when I checked in for my flight. Usually, I am like the last person on the plane, but I was very early for my flight this time. I went to the gate and asked for my seat assignment, and was told to come back a half hour before the flight. I asked again nicely and was told that my name would be called before the flight boarded. I was growing increasingly concerned because there was a bit of a standby list on display. Five minutes before boarding my name was called and I was upgraded to first class.

The first class experience on an American Airlines flight in my opinion isn't as worth it. Previously I had only flown first class on Virgin America. The food is terrible. The seats aren't much more comfortable. Value wise, I wouldn't have paid more than say, fifty bucks to upgrade to first class on American.

Once I got to the airport, I had to deal with the rental car situation. I reserved a car from Avis (Pro tip, sign up for the rewards program at whatever rental car company you use, worse case scenario you waste five minutes of your time, best case a couple of free days and signing up is free). Reserved an MKZ but was assigned a MKS. If you know me you know that I am not the SUV type. So eventually got everything corrected and was given a MKZ, but on the way to the parking lot there was this beautiful white 328. I went back inside to do my negotiations and was informed that that car was a 2012. Then I was offered a brand new 2013 with very low mileage.

Imagine how pissed I was when I found out that there was no satellite radio in this car. Really Avis... No satellite radio in your BMW. I must say that after buying a Toyota Camry... There are some features that my Camry has that the BMW just has a much better navigation system in some ways. The controls are a bit more intuitive. The Camry's voice control is much more straightforward. It took me about 20 mins to figure out the Bluetooth in the BMW.

I had dinner with my grandma, more like a large late night snack considering it was well after midnight at the Latin Cafe 2000 (1149 W 49th St, Hialeah). There are several Latin Cafes dotted through Miami. We had the appetizer sampler. The sampler consisted of:

• Tostones Rellenos con Picadillo: Delicious fried plantains which are smashed to form a little cup which contains a savory mix of ground beef and olives it has a tasty tomato base to it. Fresh they are amazing but the tostone, or plantain part of the situation doesn't reheat well at all as I learned the next day. 
• Croquetas: A Cuban staple which is essentially chopped up ham breaded and deep fried. They are a tasty treat that is usually served with saltine crackers. I usually forego the crackers when eating them. Done right they have a soft inside and a crispy outside. A delicious ham flavour that isn't too salty. 
• Tamal: which was tasty and had the correct proportion of masa to meat. It is absolutely horrible when you get one that is overwhelmed with too much masa. 
• Pork: what makes pork taste better? Frying it in its own fat. You get the nice lemony flavour (though most mojo marinades are made with tasty bitter oranges) of the mojo marinade accentuated by a hint of garlic. The cooked onions that accompanied it have a slight vinegary taste. The pork is very tender with a crisp exterior. 
• Papas Rellenas: My favourite part of Cuban cuisine hands down. I fiend for these when I am away from home. It is the perfect snack. Devinely smooth mashed potatoes coat a delicious filling of Picadillo and is deep fried to crispy perfection... Hey nobody said Cuban food was healthy.

I must admit the service there left a little to be desired though.  The Media Noche sandwich I had there wasn't the greatest I have had either.  I was looking forward to that sweet bread with the pickles, roast pork and ham.  The ham seemed of not the greatest quality and the bread was greedy.  Needless to say I've had better.

The next day I ended up being at a loss for what to eat and taking my uncles and grandmother to dinner at TGI Friday's (90 N University Dr, Pembroke Pines, FL 33024).  Friday's is my standby when I pretty much don't know what to eat.  It's not great by any means but it isn't bad either.  You can't get much more reasonable than $155 for dinner for five adults and a child including tip.  I was underwhelmed by the steak tacos (serves me right for going against my staple Jack Daniel's Burger).  But the appetizers didn't dissapoint and I was well fed.