Summer in Georgia (the country, not the state)

On the Road with TripAdvisor and Yelp

TripAdvisor: Do you use TripAdvisor? I've been using it for several years now, first for information about hotels, and now also for information about restaurants and site seeing attractions. If you aren't using it in your travels and travel planning, I recommend that you try it.

We used it a lot planning for our honeymoon in Europe - to find hotels in Paris, London and Bruges, and restaurants in Berlin - and we weren't disappointed. In the US we travel though a lot of little towns in the west and we use it to find decent hotels and places to eat when the choices are slim. TripAdvisor has an iPhone app, and you can just use the internet browser on any smart phone to find it. We use it on our iPhone while on the road to find places to stay the night or grab a meal. Its especially useful when you are traveling through small towns and looking to eat someplace that isn't a fast food chain or scary.

The site's information has grown so much over the past few years that I find it really covers most places all over the world. While some places have mixed reviews that make it tough to get the real picture, you can usually weed out what is a real trend of bad service/experience vs. one person's personal bad experience which can happen even in the best of places. 

For a long time I have wanted to give back by writing my own reviews. We visit a lot of sites, hotels and restaurants and I feel that if I am using this wonderful information from others, I should also be giving back with my own information to help others. Well, a great, magical restaurant experience we had last week in the small town of Pahrump, Nevada finally motivated me to write my first review. You can see the link here: Tommasino's Fine Italian Dining. I am proud that I finally stopped being lazy and did this. Now I owe long overdue reviews to some dear friends who own hotels in Monrovia, Liberia and Tbilisi, Georgia. This is one New Year's resolution - to write reviews.

YELP: Another great place for travel recommendations, especially restaurants, that I use more often than TripAdvisor, is yelp. I started using this when I lived in Washington, DC. We used this a lot while driving across the country on our move to Salt Lake City, and I use it all the time when we are on our road trips. 

I am a bit obsessive about checking out yelp anytime we want to get something to eat anywhere. I think it drives my husband a little crazy. Wait...scratch that...I KNOW it drives him a little crazy. He feels that using these services takes a bit of the mystery and adventure out of just stumbling upon a great place. I get that and I agree, but I also pose that even with the information you get from these sites, you are still not sure what you are going to get. There is still a mystery there when its your first visit to a place. You don't know if those reviews are really going to be right. Things change all the time. We've found some terrific places using yelp and TripAdvisor, and this year I am going to give back more by adding my own reviews, good and bad, of places we've experienced.

Happy travels on the Byway and may you find excellent restaurants and hotels on your journeys...and if you do, please share your reviews!

Zama Beach & Lounge, Isla Mujeres

If you find yourself on Isla Mujeres, I recommend finding Zama Beach and Lounge. We recently spent a day on the island and stumbled upon this place, unfortunately at the end of the day, so we only had time for some cocktails, a beautiful sunset, and then we raced back to town to return our golf carts and jump on the last ferry home to the mainland. We all agreed that had we known of this place, we probably would have spent the whole day there (except for visiting the ruins at the south point). To get there you take the road down past the turtle sanctuary and its on your left.

Finding this place was like stumbling into paradise. A beautiful bar next to a small private beach looking out across the water towards Cancun. A swimming pool, massage area, beach chairs. Perfect music, fabulous cocktails and great service. You can go and spend the day there hanging out on the beach, swimming in the ocean and pool and enjoying great service. It was so nice that we thought it was a private club, but we were told you only need to spend a minimum of $20 to hang out there, which is not hard to do (2 cocktails or a few drinks). You can make reservations and I am sure the place gets rented out frequently to wedding and other parties.We did not try any food, but I am sure it was good, and it looks like it would be a beautiful dining/bar scene at night.

I think the beauty of Isla Mujeres is that in spite of continuing growth and tourism, you still can get a small island, local, Mexico, beach feel if you look for it, and there are other places I would recommend for that. Zama is not that. Zama is a high end kind of place, and not what you want if you are looking for a more local feel. This is where you go when you just want to chill out in a small, more private space and listen to lounge music and drink really good top shelf cocktails. And sometimes that is what I want to do.

Next time we are down here we are definitely spending a day on Isla Mujeres and definitely spending a lot of it kicking back at Zama.

Sunset from Zama

The view from the bar

Beach-y cocktails

Ask for the mango mojito. I don't typically like to mess with the original, but this recommendation from our waiter was fantastic.

Thanksgiving Fun

I love Thanksgiving. What is not to love? Four days away from work - a big long weekend full of family, friends, food, lazy tv watching, hiking, and hanging out. While it can be fun to travel and visit friends and family during Thanksgiving, taking advantage of the long weekend, I love it best when you can stay close to home. Then it really is a relaxing four day long weekend. This year we were around home and able to take full advantage of the holiday.

This year we volunteered to do a lot of the cooking. It was worth the slaving away that went into it. Cooking this meal is a lot of work, but it can be a lot of fun and rewarding - if all the recipes and dishes work out. I cooked a turkey for the third or fourth time in my life and the first time in many years. And it worked! I was very happy with the results.

We had a dear friend as a house guest; we spent Thanksgiving close by with family; and then had some family over one night for a little dinner party. Lots of socializing. We rarely go to the movies, but often go to see a matinee on this holiday weekend and we did it this year. We rented and watched a couple of movies at home. And lots of other good, bad TV. There is usually a hike that happens somewhere over this holiday weekend - motivated from guilt and gluttony - too much food and too much laying around. We had a nice one up in City Creek Canyon.

Lot's of people do their shopping during this holiday, but not me. I avoid that like the plague. You won't catch me shopping during that holiday weekend. No way. Too much drama. Too much stress. Too many people. Although I did pick up my Christmas present over the weekend (a little early). Thanks Santa :)

Once we hit Thanksgiving, then it always feels like winter really is here and Christmas is just around the corner. It all goes too fast. I love this time of year. I have a lot to be thankful for. I hope you enjoy the season. Enjoy!

Breakfast in SLC - Millcreek Cafe and Eggworks

My one gripe about Salt Lake City is its restaurants. Coming from Washington, DC with its ever expanding diversity and number of good, really good, and fantastic eating establishments, this place was an adjustment. I realize that living in the Washington, DC area for so many years really spoiled me. This is one of the things I miss most about Washington. To be fair to Salt Lake, I've been here less than 2 years and I don't go out to eat as much as I used to. So I don't know the good places yet. It takes time. I lived in DC for 20 years, so I had time to find the good places. What do you do when you move to a new city? You ask friends, you read reviews, you do internet research (resources such as Yelp certainly help), but these only help so much. You have to get out there and find and test the places yourself.

Today we did that for breakfast and I now can say I do have one good recommendation for breakfast: Millcreek Cafe and Eggworks at 3084 East 3300 South.

My husband and I love breakfast, and we typically eat breakfast in because we are excellent breakfast makers and I prefer to know that I am eating quality items we purchased at the grocery store - coffee we like, organic eggs, butter, cheese, and meat that we know came from more humane farms. Plus its nice to sit around the house in your pjs on the weekends instead of getting dressed and leaving the house for food. But sometimes you just want to go out. In the case of today we weren't stocked for making breakfast, didn't feel like making breakfast, and I had a mean craving for bacon and pancakes.

As much as I don't like to eat a lot of meat, bacon is my weakness. I love it. Its really hard for me to say no to it. Usually of late I intentionally do not buy it to have in our fridge, because I know I will just eat it. Pancakes on the other hand, meh. I rarely to never want them. I do not like sweet food, especially in the morning. I'd always prefer an egg with spicy salsa and cheese rather than a donut or pastry or pancakes for breakfast. But my husband has a large framed photograph of pancakes sitting around the house, from a past gallery show - a close up shot with these delicious looking pancakes.  We were looking at it the other day, and ever since then I have been craving pancakes.

This is what drove us out of the house this morning to Millcreek Cafe and Eggworks. Its close by. We had been there once before months ago and remembered it as being good. So we went. It was a great choice.

Open since 2006, it is small and cozy - a real neighborhood place. It is open daily from 7 am to 2 pm and serves both breakfast and lunch. They have a nice selection of breakfast items - your standard breakfast fare, with a Mexican flair for some items. The cappuccino was not great - next time I will stick with a regular cup of coffee. However our food was pretty good. We each got an egg dish and split a side of pancakes. Again, pancakes I can have as a side, but I have to have my eggs with a ton of hot sauce. Willingness to share a side of pancakes - reason #356 why I love my husband.

Salt Lake needs more places like this. No more chain establishments! If you are looking for a good breakfast place in the area, I recommend this place. Plus you can go shopping at REI, Savers or Smiths just across the street afterward.

Other restaurants I've found in SLC that I have blogged about and would recommend: Himalayan Kitchen, Red Iguana and Bruges Waffle & Frite. Other Salt Lake City restaurants that I would recommend but haven't blogged about yet: Barbacoa, Papa Murphy's, The Copper Onion, the restaurant at the Sundance Resort, Tony Caputo's Food Market, 9th South Deli, all of the Market Street restaurants, Squatters and Red Rock Breweries.

Casa Del Mar Hotel, Santa Monica - Leftover Cuties

If you are in LA, I recommend going to the Casa Del Mar hotel on the beach in Santa Monica right near the pier. It is a beautiful hotel, with an excellent lobby lounge. The atmosphere is great, the people watching is fun, they have good drinks and food (I've enjoyed the wine list and many of the lounge menu items - including awesome sushi), and they have excellent, free live music most nights. This is a good date place.

We stumbled upon this place back in February, staying with a friend in the area who suggested it as a place to get a drink. We were loving the space, food, company and music when suddenly the band started playing a song that we knew. That was when we realized that this band, The Leftover Cuties, was the band who does the theme song for the the Showtime series The Big C with Laura Linney. We love that show and the theme song is ingrained in my head. I had no idea who sang it and it was a surprise to discover that the band plays here most Friday nights for free. Think 40s, 50s light, fun jazz with a great singer, brushed drums, an upright bass, piano, accordion, ukelele. They've got two CDs and some singles - all good. I love them - and they are really fun to see live. You can check them out on iTunes or on their website at the link above.

We stopped in there again two Fridays ago when we were in Santa Monica for one night, to meet a friend and have a few drinks and see the band one more time before they were heading out for some east coast performances (NYC). We got prime seats on the couch right in front of the band, some wine and sushi, and it was another lovely evening at the Casa Del Mar. 

Casa Del Mar

1910 Ocean Way

Santa Monica, CA 90405

Ma Rouge Coffee House - Yucca Valley, CA

Its Sunday. So I feel I should write about coffee...

When we build our house in the Mojave Desert (hopefully next year, fingers crossed), while our closest town will be Pioneertown, the closest town that has more than a post office and Pappy & Harriet's bar will be Yucca Valley. Yucca Valley is a small (population of around 20,000), high desert town, with some basic necessity stores and businesses, but it doesn't seem to have much in the way of what I would consider good restaurants. Its full of fast food, chain places and little hole in the wall places. I am sure there are some hidden gems that we will discover when we are living there, and I look forward to finding those needles in the haystack. (If you have recommendations, please send them my way!)

Up until now I have been grateful that Yucca Valley has a Starbucks - not only for some good, strong coffee, but also free wireless internet and some decent food options. However, I am really happy to have discovered Ma Rouge Coffee House on our last trip out there - a groovy alternative, with good coffee and coffee house food, free internet and a relaxing coffee house environment with nice music and nice staff.

Ma Rouge opened in April 2011 in the space (an old Rexall drugstore) where Water Canyon used to reside. Those of you familiar with the area probably know and remember Water Canyon which was open from 1999 until 2009. By the time I started coming to Yucca Valley, it was closed.

Ma Rouge's food menu has quiches, salads, sandwiches and some pastries. We ate lunch their twice and breakfast once. I had some of the best quiche I have ever had, and a fantastic salad, all fresh and delicious. I loved the atmosphere. The salad I had at Ma Rouge was so fresh that I am certain they must have bought the produce next door at the Farm Fresh Express that sells organic locally sourced produce.

If you find yourself in the Yucca Valley area looking for a place to chill out with coffee, some food and wireless internet, check out Ma Rouge.

Open every day 7 am - 7 pm
Ma Rouge Coffee House
55844 29 Palms Highway
Yucca Valley, CA 92284
Tel: +1-760-365-4100
www.marouge.net/

Check out their FB page and check out the Yelp reviews here.

Pappy & Harriet's Pioneertown Palace

I just found a lovely little description of Pappy & Harriet's Pioneertown Palace at something called the Alternative Apparel Blog, associated with the Alternative Apparel store. The blog describes itself as a place "where we promote community, culture, consciousness, and creativity and tell the stories of the people behind our brand." It looks like it has some interesting posts of places to check out on the Byway. The online shop looks cool. I recommend checking out both.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to go to P&H last week while in the desert. We haven't been out in the desert enough to go often - but that will change when we move out there full time next year (!). Anyway, we met a number of friends there from the area who we haven't seen in some time and had a great time. I do really like that place and its atmosphere and its music.

P&H was featured recently on the California Desert episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations on the Travel Channel. I have to say that I found the show dumb and annoying. I don't know if it is always like that or if it was just this episode? Anthony Bourdain is just so showy and full of himself. What do you think of the show? Those of you who know this desert area, what did you think of the episode? P&H was highlighted and I suppose that is good for business and fun for its fans. But I don't think I will be watching that show much in the future  (except for the Liberia episode that I have to see - personal interest).

Anyway, I really like how this Alternative Apparel blog describes P&H and I really love the comment that follows from Constable Paul Dallas, a former patron of P&H and now a resident and officer of the law in Macon County, Tennessee. The following is a full copy of their blog post and photographs, and the comment - all credit to the Alternative Apparel Blog.

If the Byway ever takes you out to the Pioneertown area (near Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree, 29 Palms), P&H is definitely worth a visit. You are likely to find me there a lot after next year when we move down to Pioneertown.

From the Alternative Apparel Blog:

PAPPY & HARRIET'S PIONEERTOWN PALACE

On the edge of an old western movie set in Pioneertown, CA sits an old biker roadhouse called Pappy & Harriet’s. It was originally founded by Harriet’s mom in 1972 as an outlaw biker bar called The Cantina, which she operated for 10 good years. When Mom decided to sell, Harriet and her husband (affectionately known as Pappy) decided to step in. While not shunning the bikers, Pappy & Harriet managed to create a friendlier atmosphere in the place by bringing in live music and family style BBQ dinners.

In 1994 Pappy died and it changed hands several more times. In danger of closing down and becoming a forgotten piece of history, it was purchased by two New Yorkers who had fallen in love with the place. They bought it in 2003 and while keeping the original integrity, charm and grit, turned it into a “must play” on the indie music circuit. Big names like Robert Plant and Sean Lennon have played there, as well as Sonic Youth, Calexico and The Donnas who seem to love the down-home unpretentiousness and genuine enthusiasm of the desert crowd.


The dining hall and bar walls are covered from floor to ceiling with band flyers, old license plates, photos and taxidermy, giving the venue a timeless quality. Their menu is the antithesis of the now popular raw, vegan and micro-brew scene as the kitchen serves up hefty portions of roadhouse classics like ribs, top sirloin, and Santa Maria tri-tip—all grilled outdoor over a mesquite fire on the back patio. Of course, all this is to be washed down with an icy cold Bud or PBR from the bar.


While the desert can seem like a vast sweltering wasteland, Pappy & Harriet’s is truly an oasis where road-trippers and desert rats alike can share good music, good food and friendly small-town vibes.

Comments

Started goin there in the early '70's while stationed at MCAS El Toro CA, became good friends with John and Francis...spent MANY a night/weekend there...in early days, it was pretty much anything goes, we wore firearms whilst playin pool, and John would close down and alet us who were friends stay in and we'd all stay up till dawn sometimes having a brew and talking motorcycles and good times. In those days we parked out scooters just outside the Cantina and slept just about where ever we chose...we even had a favorite place down in the wash past the Cantina....lots of parties there in the day. The transition to Pappy and Harriet's was not a bad thing. Times changed a bit and P&H carried on the tradition. I slept many a night out behind P&H's place there in Pi-Town....Their door was always open to us and we got hot meal any time...Have not been in many a moon now....fond thoughts of the times spent there flood back every time I think of Pioneer Town, Cantina, Morongo Valley, Yucca Valley... I truly LOVED John and Francis, I loved Pappy and Harriet and will always rember the days as some of the best days. I moved to Tennessee in 1999, still ride Harley Davidson but the "roudy" days are done, for one I'm older and mellower, 2 I now wear a badge/gun for work as i am sworn peace officer, but I'll always have a little "outlaw" in me and I'll always remember with the greatest love for Pioneer Town ,,, the Cantina (John and Fraqncis), Pappy and Harriets Place and the Fantastic people who owned and operated them.
Visit me on Facebook page, where I'll be posting or have already posted some old photos of the early days of the Cantina...

Posted by: Constable Tom Dallas, Macon County Tennessee | September 12, 2011 at 11:53 PM

Snack Time

I went to the Harbel Supermarket for the first time. This is the big market in Monrovia. I love visiting grocery stores in other countries. Its one of my favorite things to do when I am in another country. Checking out what people eat and how they shop is fascinating.

I was impressed. I would be ok if I lived here full time. You can get quite the selection of goods at the Harbel. They even have a whole wine and liquor section. I also saw most of the fixings you would need to prepare mexican/tex-mex food. Not bad Liberia. Not bad. And thank you Lebanon because it is your people who run this grocery store. And the night clubs.

I bought some snacks so I don't always have to eat at the restaurant in my hotel. Awesome. If you wonder what I am doing here at 1 am when I still can't sleep due to jet lag...I am probably listening to my iTunes library, doing work or checking email, and snacking.

Pickles and cheese and a collection of weird sodas

Bugles! Ramen noodles!

Utah's Confusing Liquor Laws

As a newcomer to Utah, here is an interesting topic and one that is often brought up by friends who don't live here. To help you understand what goes on here, you can refer to a recent article in the New York Times about the confusing status of liquor laws in Utah. Click on the link to see the article entitled: Utah Liquor Laws, As Mixed up as Some Drinks. You can also click here to go straight to the source.

The situation in Utah is mixed up and confusing, especially as it has been changing over the past few years. Many of my friends still assume, or assumed until I corrected them, that Utah is still a place where bars are set up as private clubs that you have to join in order to enter and buy a drink. I am not sure when that changed, but since I have been here (May 2010) that is not the case. There are bars and brew pubs everywhere and many restaurants serve alcohol. You have no problem going out to dinner and having a drink or out for drinks at a bar and finding a place to do so. I believe that the liquor laws started easing up during/after the 2002 Winter Olympics were held here, and then the easement of restrictions has continued (somewhat) due to such an increase in state tourism.

I guess the things that have been most noticeable and different and frustrating for me about Utah and its crazy liquor laws are as follows.

1) In any place where you might order a drink, bartenders have to strictly measure the pour. This means that every glass of wine is going to be poured to a measured line and never more. Forget about a generous pour of a good glass of wine by a generous bartender every once in awhile, and forget about a stiff cocktail. Unless you want to make them at home. Most of the time you don't notice this, but sometimes you do when you order a weak cocktail or notice the puniness of your expensive glass of wine.

2) As noted above, all beer, wine and liquor is sold in state controlled liquor stores. The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (UDABC) has regulated the sale of alcohol in Utah since 1935, two years after prohibition. Utah is one of 18 control states meaning the state has a monopoly over wholesaling and retailing alcoholic beverages.Other states besides Utah control the sale of their liquor this way, so that is not that unusual. Even in Virginia where I lived for many years you have to buy your liquor in a state store. But you could always buy beer and wine at grocery stores and wine stores.

Surprising to me, you can buy beer here at the grocery store. But it is some weird version of your brand name beers with less alcohol (no more than 3.2%). I couldn't believe all these beer companies make a special version that has less alcohol. Is there a larger market for this kind of beer than in Utah? I had never heard of this before I moved here. I am not a huge beer drinker and it doesn't taste any different to me, but it just seems odd. You can buy normal beer in the liquor stores.

I don't drink much, so I don't mind going to a state store to buy liquor and beer, but I do hate having to go there for wine. I love, love, love wine and was spoiled by living in the Washington, DC area for so many years with its fabulous selection of specialty wine stores. I love a good wine stop and a manager who really loves and knows his or her wine. Shopping and often tasting in places like that was such a nice treat. No more of that living out here. You don't get tastings. You don't get special deals. You don't get a very good selection and variety. It isn't horrible, but it isn't very good. I would say out of all of the differences with liquor laws out here in Utah, that is the only one that really bothers me. I don't care much about the others.

The NYT article references a blog called Drink SLC - two guys trying to visit and report on all of Salt Lake City's 118 bars. This could be a good reference to newcomers like me, and possible visitors/tourists like you, to figure out where to go in this town. We don't go out much, and mostly just for dinner, so we don't know much about the bar and nightlife here.

So, no more misinformation. Some of the seemingly abnormal restrictions you will find here you will find in other US states. You can drink in Utah. Utah has liquor stores. You can find nice bars and restaurants just like in every other state and you don't have to join a private club. Just don't expect a generous pour, a stiff drink, or a great selection of wine. Unless you are at my house.

Cherry Season

It is cherry season.

The cherry is the state fruit of Utah. Many varieties of both sweet and sour cherries are grown here. 2 billion harvested annually. Another reason to like this place.

We moved to Salt Lake City last year into a house that has two cherry trees in our yard (and a small pear tree and two apple trees). Last June/July we were fortunate to have an amazing crop from those two trees. I picked the ones above right around this time last year - a little early as they continued to ripen for another two weeks. But they were still good. Last year for an Independence Day cookout I made cherry crisp with fruit from the trees. It was so good. I plan to make a lot of that this year. I still have frozen cherries in my freezer from last year's crop. Here is an interesting document about cherries, including tips for freezing, canning, drying, etc. them from the Utah State University Extension Program.

The cherries in my yard seem to be ripening a little later this year. They are still turning red. About another 10-14 days is my prediction - perfect because we will be back from our trip. Then I will be drowning myself in cherries.

Cherries are one of my favorite fruits. Where I grew up in Pennsylvania there were many fruit orchards, including cherries. When I was a teenager I picked cherries one summer for a job, briefly, because it was a fun way to hang out with friends and make a little money. It was A LOT of work for very little money. You got something like 10 cents per bucket - I can't remember the exact amount, but trust me, it was pitiful. It was a lot of work to fill a bucket. So, we were doing it more for the fun and the experience than the money. I have memories of being on ladders up in the cherry trees and cherry fights around the orchards. Fond memories.

Wat?! I've Discovered an Ethiopian Restaurant in SLC!

If you know Ethiopian food you know that "wat" refers to an Ethiopian stew. Couldn't resist that little play on words...wat...what...whatever...

One of the things I loved so much about living in Washington, DC was the diversity and number of ethnic food options, including many, many Ethiopian restaurants. I don't think any city in the US has as many Ethiopian restaurants as Washington. I could be wrong - if you know otherwise, set me straight.

One of the things I feared the most about living in Salt Lake City was losing good ethnic food options. I have made a few gem discoveries here: Himalayan Kitchen for Nepali food and The Red Iguana for killer Mexican food, and my search continues. But I never, ever thought I would find an Ethiopian restaurant here!!!

I am so excited!! I love, love me some Ethiopian food - always have. I don't want to eat it a lot, but I do love to eat it now and then. My entry to Ethiopian food came when I was an exchange student in Nairobi, Kenya for a year - a very long time ago. I had Ethiopian friends and would have meals with them at their home and also out at restaurants. A guy from that family moved to Philadelphia and my mother and I used to go to that restaurant sometimes (she loves the food too). Then when I moved to DC (again, a very long time ago), I used to go to a number of the Ethiopian restaurants quite often. Given the social way of eating - you all sit on the floor or a table around a communal plate and dig in with your hands and injera (a type of sourdough flat spongy bread) - it was a fun thing to do with a group of friends. And if you have vegetarian friends - there are always lots of options. I actually like the vegetarian dishes more than the meat ones. A long time ago back in DC I used to work at a fun little company and sometimes we would order delivery Ethiopian for lunch (hopefully my former colleagues who did that with me will read this). Fun memories.

Anyway, imagine my surprise to just discover the African Market & Restaurant - which apparently is an Ethiopian restaurant. I was cruising Yelp! for some restaurant ideas here in Salt Lake and I found this. I love you Yelp. You are so much assistance to me all the time in finding places to eat. If you do not know about Yelp, you should definitely check it out. Brilliant information source. Anyway, all the Yelp reviews are good for the African Market & Restaurant so I can't wait to try it out.

My husband graciously tried Ethiopian food for the first time when we were back in DC and he did not like it, so he won't be too thrilled about this discovery. Everyone I know who has tried it either loves it or hates it. I need to find some local friends who also love the stuff or who would be willing to experiment. This is not the kind of place you can go alone. Mom, sorry I discovered this after you just left town - it would have been fun to take you there, especially as it has been far too long since you've had some good wat. I will go and check it out and if it is as good as the Yelp reviews say, we'll go next time you are in town. Anyone want to join me for some Ethiopian food next week?

Photo compliments of Wikipedia.

Himalayan Kitchen - Great Food, Friends and Apa Sherpa

Living in Washington, DC for so many years, and traveling frequently to exotic places for work, I have grown quite spoiled and used to being able to eat a lot of different ethnic foods. I love all kinds of ethnic food. I love spicy food. In DC I loved that I could have a different cuisine every day for lunch or evening for dinner if I wanted. Losing that smorgasbord of options was one worry I had about leaving WDC for Salt Lake City. I've been here in SLC now coming up on a year soon, but I haven't gone out to eat much.

We are finding some good ethnic dining options. There are a number of great Mexican restaurants here, including The Red Iguana. We even found a Belgian frites place. But Sunday night I was finally able to try a restaurant I've been excited to check out  - Himalayan Kitchen. The Himalayan Kitchen, as it's name suggests, is a Nepali restaurant.

Photo from HK website

Dear friends were in town for a visit and they had lived for almost three years in Kathmandu, Nepal before moving to Washington, DC where they are now. Moving from Nepal to WDC has been a tough transition for all of them, especially their two daughters who loved living there and really miss it. So, they were very happy to go for Nepali food, as was I. I used to travel to Nepal quite often from 2000-2004 and I always enjoyed the food. Sadly the last time I was in Nepal was probably around 2006 or so, and I was never able to visit my friends when they were living there.

The restaurant is in a convenient city center location, in an area of restaurants, so for those of you visiting SLC, it should be easy to find. The space is nice and fairly large. The staff are all very friendly and many of them are Nepali. The menu has both Indian and Nepali dishes. They have the classic momos (steamed or pan-fried dumplings). We tried both the chicken and the vegetarian and both were good. We tried several Indian and Nepali dishes and everything was excellent: butter chicken, baygan bharta, bindi, daal, etc. I can't wait to return.

We love Nepal, Switzerland and the US!

It was a wonderful meal with friends, and we even had a celebrity siting. Well, a SLC kind of celebrity siting. I still haven't seen an Osmond, and now I won't ever get to see poor Gary Coleman, but I did see Apa Sherpa. I wrote about him a few weeks ago. Paul had met him before and spotted him when he walked in and said hello. Then our friends' little girls, having lived in Nepal, were very curious and went to introduce themselves and ask some questions. Apa Sherpa, if you do not know, is a Nepali mountain climber, or sherpa. He holds the world record for the most Everest climbs. As of last year he did 20 and he is heading out this weekend to Nepal to do his next climb. The girls drew pictures of the Nepali flag (and in one case also the US and Swiss flags as they are both American and Swiss) and presented them to him and also got his autograph.

It was a great evening and I recommend this restaurant. Namaste.

Santa Barbara Wine Tasting Weekend Part 3 - Los Olivos

Here is what my scenic byway looked like last weekend: Friday afternoon - Summerland. Friday evening - Santa Barbara. Saturday - Los Olivos.

The beautiful drive from Santa Barbara to Los Olivos.

It was my first visit to the California Central Coast wine country. Great region. Great wineries. Can't wait to return.

A website for Los Olivos lists 22 wine tasting rooms in the town, but one we visited was not on that list, so I am not certain that is an accurate number. Los Olivos is a cute little town and in addition to the tasting rooms, there are some restaurants and shops. Note: none of the wineries we visited have bathrooms. Los Olivos offers portable type public toilets in the town - one we used was very nice, the other one not so much. We tasted at four wineries: Richard Longoria, Qupe, Evans Ranch and Dragonette Cellars. We would have loved to do more, but there is only so much wine tasting one can do in a day. By the last winery I was done with wine. 

Richard Longoria: This was our first stop and my favorite winery of the trip. The best wines I tasted on the trip. Rick Longoria has been making wine for 32 years. They are one of the smallest wineries from the region, making only 3,500 cases annually. Rick's wife Diana did our tasting. She was knowledgeable, funny and nice. The other staff were great. And they have a cute dog on the premises. I bought wine: Cuvee June (rose), red wine blends (Blues Cuvee and HooDoo Red) and all of the Pinot Noirs were great. They have some whites which are probably good but they weren't part of the tastings as these wines weren't in stock. They also have a tasting room at the Lompoc Wine Ghetto. I highly recommend visiting this tasting room and buying their wines. 

Qupe: I like this winery too, although the tasting was not as good as Longoria. Longoria recommended we head here because I wanted an Alberino. The winery was founded by Robert Neil Lindquist, in the wine business since the 1970s. Qupe was started in 1982 and has focused on Syrahs and other Rhone varietals as well as Chardonnays. I bought some wine.

Evans Ranch: We did a wine and olive oil/vinegar tasting here - both tastings were great. I bought wine, vinegar and olive oil. Evans is part of the Gainy winery and business, which is quite large and has been around since the 1980s.

Dragonette Cellars: This is the only winery in Los Olivos where I did not buy wine. I wasn't crazy about these wines. To be fair, this was my fourth tasting of the day so I was getting burned out on tasting wines and I had already bought quite a bit of wine, so wasn't wanting to spend more money unless I found a really fantastic wine. We were served by one of the owners and he was a nice guy.

We ate lunch at the Corner Coffee House - great wood oven pizzas, good coffee drinks...and the only bathroom I saw in the town.

Overall it was a great day and I really liked this little town. I would highly recommend a visit. All of the tasting rooms were fun and the staff were nice. Most tastings are around $10 which I think is a pretty good price. I recall tastings in Napa/Sonoma often being pricier. What I like about this whole area is that it feels smaller and more laid back than Napa/Sonoma.

Booty in the boot...most of this wine was mine...

Los Olivos Trivia! 

• Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch is 5 miles north of here.
• Fess Parker's winery, featured in the movie Sideways is near here.
• Fess Parker was the star of Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett.
• Other famous people who've lived in this area: Ronald Reagan, Gregory Peck, Jimmy Stewart, Bo Derek, Steven Seagal (ha!)

Santa Barbara Wine Tasting Weekend - Part 2 - Santa Barbara

My scenic byway took me to Santa Barbara last weekend. It is a lovely little town, and the surrounding wine country is beautiful. We stayed two nights in Santa Barbara (SB) and made it our base for visiting some of the local wineries. We left Santa Clarita on Friday, drove to Summerland Winery (Part 1) on the way and then arrived in Santa Barbara in the afternoon. We had hoped to drive up to the Lompoc Wine Ghetto (I want a t-shirt that says Wine Ghetto!!), but that is an hour drive from SB and all the tasting rooms close at 4 or 5 pm, so we were too late to make it there for this trip. The Lompoc Wine Ghetto is a warehouse with tasting rooms for 12 local wineries all in one locations. Nice, huh? A must see for next time.

Not being able to make it to the ghetto this trip, we decided to walk around SB and visit a few tasting rooms. There are a number of tasting rooms downtown. We visited two before heading out to dinner. The first one was Oreana. Fun space in an old tire shop (see photos of us lounging outside). Nice staff. The kind of place that makes you want to hang out. But the wine we tasted was not great. They look like they have fun events. The next tasting room we hit was the Santa Barbara Winery just across the street from Oreana. Not fantastic, but ok.

After those wine tastings we needed some food. Some of the staff at the Santa Barbara Winery recommended we head to Arch Rock Fish. If you are visiting SB I highly, highly recommend this place. It is in the heart of the restaurant area. The place has great food, a good wine selection, a fun atmosphere, and great happy hour food and drink specials. I would definitely go here again. You must go here!

Saturday we spent the day wine tasting in Los Olivos (posting to come). But, Saturday night we were back in SB and for dinner we had to hit La Super Rica Taqueria - Oh man oh man oh man. I cannot wait to go to this place again! I can't wait to take my husband! You must go here!

Photo courtesy of John Dickson's Santa Barbara Restaurant Guide. 

A friend heard I was going to SB and told me that I had to try this place. She told me that Julia Child loved it. I was intrigued. I read up on it online, including looking at photos of the menu items that someone had graciously posted, and I was hooked. I told my friends we had to go to this place. So on our last night in SB, in the pouring, pouring rain (a huge storm was blowing in) we drove to this little taco joint. It is a tiny place with a tiny kitchen and a tented seating area attached (thankfully with space heaters as it was chilly that night). It has a huge menu. Everything is a la carte. The prices are cheap. Everything we saw looked good. Everything we tasted was fantastic. Fresh. Real. If you don't believe how good it is hearing from me or Julia Child, read the NYT review and all the personal reviews from Yelp and other sources. Google it and find out. Its worth a trip to Santa Barbara.

Some of our food - sorry the light was bad.

The friendly guy who takes your order. 

Part of the menu.

Santa Barbara Wine Tasting Weekend Part 1 - Summerland

Last week my scenic byway took me to California to spend a weekend with two of my oldest and dearest friends. We met in college, which was far too long ago. One friend recently moved from Texas to Santa Clarita and I've been wanting to visit her. Another friend wanted a little get away from Virginia. My husband and I drove down to California, stopping first for a night in Palm Springs to stock up at Trader Joes, which unfortunately does not exist in Utah (a crime!), then went on to the Joshua Tree area where we stayed with a dear friend. I left my husband there to take care of some business in the desert and I drove west to greener pastures in Santa Clarita - our goal to meet there for a night and then head to Santa Barbara for a weekend of wine tasting.

It is about a two-hour very scenic drive from Santa Clarita to Santa Barbara, part of it on Route 1 along the Pacific ocean. Very green. Lots of orange groves. On the way we stopped in a cute little town called Summerland to visit the Summerland Winery tasting room. I had never heard of this place, but my friends wanted to stop there because they watch the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and apparently this winery gets highlighted in the show.

Summerland is a boutique winery noted for its Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. It was founded in 2002 by Nebil "Bilo" Zarif originally from Turkey.  The place in Summerland is the tasting room, which opened in 2004. Summerland Winery does not have its own stand alone winery. Instead they use over 14 different grape varietals from 9 area vineyards. They source from vineyards in the Santa Maria Valley, Edna Valley, Santa Rita Hills, Santa Ynez Valley and Paso Robles.

What I understand is that part of this multiple sourcing is due to the changing growing climate - different varietals thrive closer to the ocean and others do better on land as you travel further east into the area. So, if you are a winery producing both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, you have to source from different areas. From the wineries we visited on this trip, I learned that this seems to be a common practice in this wine area - people sharing vineyards and sourcing grapes from various places. I assume you have a similar situation in Napa/Sonoma, but my experience there was that we visited more wineries than tasting rooms and most of the wineries seemed to have their own land where they grew most of their grapes. I recall some sourcing grapes from other areas for certain wines, but that seemed secondary to their own primary source.

The Summerland tasting room space is nice. Our experience with the tasting staff was good. I think the cost was $10/tasting. We tasted some decent wines and bought a few bottles. Some of their Pinots rank in the 90s from sources such as Wine Enthusiast. The tasting room is open 11am-6 pm. It sits on a cute, small street with fun places to eat just next door and across the street such as Summerland Beach Cafe, The Nugget and Stacky's Seaside, where we chose to sit outside in the sun and soak up the wine tasting with some fried crab cakes and fries before hitting the road to Santa Barbara.

Summerland is definitely a fun stop on your way through the area.

What's Shakin? A Date, That's What

I am in Palm Springs in southern California. Southern California is known for dates. You know, the fruit. Last month when we were here in Palm Springs we visited a Palm grove that was amazing. Have you ever walked through a bunch of palm trees SMELLING dates? That happened on our hike. It was truly amazing. Something I will always remember.

I realize not everybody loves dates. I don't eat them often because they are very sweet to me (they hurt my teeth sometimes) and you can't always find good, fresh ones. But I really do like them. They can be a nice treat. But I was not prepared for the idea of a date shake. Last time we were here we stopped by a place called Hadley's Fruit Orchards on Route 10 in Cabazon, California, close to Palm Springs. Pretty cool place - started back in the 1930s. Great selection of nuts and fruits and other things. If you are driving by you must stop here. And they are famous for their date shakes. Apparently date shakes are a big deal around here. When I was first told about date shakes I wondered about that. A date shake? Really? I like dates and I like shakes but I never in my life thought to combine them.

So, we stopped by Hadley's again yesterday and I tried my first date shake. My impression? Fantastic. Sweet, but really, really good. I would highly recommend the date shake and I can't wait to have my next one. Others apparently feel the same way. But you don't have to come out to southern California to get your date shake fix. Check out some date shake recipes here and here.

Do you know that dates are the oldest cultivated fruit in the world? Science shows that date palms thrived 50 Million years ago. Dates have been cultivated for 6,000 years in the Middle East. The date palm has been called "the tree of life" as ancient cultures used every part of the tree. 100s of varieties of dates are grown in the world, with about 12 grown in the United States. Most dates in the US are grown in southern California in the Coachella Valley (where I am sitting right now), about two hours east of Los Angeles and San Diego.

Worthy of a shake, don't you think. Do yourself a favor. Try one. They really are awesome.

Quest for the Best - Millcreek Olive Oil & Sciabica's

I love olive oil and vinegars. But are you like me? Do you find yourself in the grocery or specialty store staring at a huge shelf of options and feeling a little lost as to which ones taste good and are worth the money? These things aren't cheap and they can vary wildly in price and quality, so it would help to have recommendations.

I've tried many different ones over the years, but I haven't done a good job of keeping track of the brands and the tastes so I could make the best next pick. For a long time I have wanted to start a list that I can keep on my phone so that the next time I find myself at the store staring at that shelf, I can look at my list for some ideas. So, I would love to know what you use and like. Please share!

I do have two great olive oil recommendations to share with you. These are places you can order on line and have the products shipped to you. They aren't cheap, but they are excellent.

Millcreek Olive Oil

Millcreek Olive Oil: If you want great oils and balsamic vinegars in Salt Lake City, you must check out this place. It is a small local business, founded by Chef Jason Hess. located in the Canyon Rim Shopping Center. The shop has only been open a few months. We stumbled upon it one day when we were headed to another shop in the same plaza. We met the owner and he is very interesting and his selection of oils and vinegars are fantastic. He uses oils and vinegars from around the world and the products he offers are always changing depending on supply. Right now his oils include: white truffle, french walnut, tuscan herb, persian lime, meyer lemon, chipotle, porcini mushroom, blood orange, and many more. His vinegars include: meyer lemon, pomegranate, tangerine, white, fig, oregano, and many more. We have tried a regular oil and a meyer lemon vinegar and both are fantastic. I can't wait to get back there for more varieties. An online shopping option is coming soon. Please support this local business!


Sciabica's California Oil of the Olive: My husband has been using oil from this company for many years and he uses it for a special salad dressing that will rock your world. If you visit us for dinner sometime, you might be lucky to get to try this salad and dressing. It is a recipe that he and his friends in the desert perfected over a number of years. We've tried a few of their oils and they are all good. The company has been a family business, cold pressing olive oil since the 1930s, using olives from California. They will ship their goods and that is how we do it.

Pinkberry - Better than Birthday Cake

Happy birthday to me. Better than birthday cake. For real.

Since moving to SLC, I've become obsessed with frozen yogurt. It is starting to hit big in the Washington, DC area, but its been fairly new. Unlike on the West Coast, where they caught on long before the east, to the beauty of frozen yogurt. With fresh fruit and other toppings. This is not your TCBY. This is gourmet frozen yogurt. I am not a dessert person, but I have always loved ice cream, but now this is so much better to me than any ice cream. Ice cream seems too sweet these days. And I am not a big fan of cake, so this is way better than birthday cake!

In SLC we have LunaBerry, JuicyBerry, Red Mango, Spoon, Top It, Yoway, and more. But my husband has always raved about Pinkberry from his LA days. And there are no Pinkberrys in SLC, but there are many of them in the LA area. So going to Pinkberry during our LA visit was a big deal. Full from breakfast or not, we were going there today before we headed out of town to Palm Springs. Which we did. And it was awesome. Similar to our places in SLC, but Pinkberry has different, good flavors and the best toppings I've seen. Chopped up blood red oranges are their latest thing. Awesome. And they have dark chocolate covered crisps (seen here). Love it. The places in SLC could take a lesson or two from this place for its toppings. They have 100 locations now. You can find them in many places in California and Florida, in NYC and a number of other places. To my DC friends, they are apparently opening one in Dupont Circle soon, so take my advice and check it out. I will be heading there again on Saturday before we leave the LA area.

Birthday Vacation: First Stop Venice Beach/Santa Monica

I've been so crazy busy that I have not had time to blog since Wednesday! And it has made me crazy. Because I blog every day. Sometimes several times a day. And that is even when I don't have much going on. But right now I have a lot going on and I have a lot to write about.

We are in Los Angeles! Well right now we are actually in Santa Monica, staying with a friend, and last night we were in Venice Beach staying at a very cool little hotel. But this is such a big deal for me because...THIS IS MY FIRST TIME EVER VISITING THE WHOLE LOS ANGELES AREA!

People, including myself, find it strange that with all the places I have traveled in the US and around the world, some how I never made it to Los Angeles. I just didn't. I didn't have friends or family here. I never came here for work. I just never really had a strong desire to come here. Until now. I am finally here, thanks to my husband, who is awesome and planned this incredible vacation for us to celebrate my birthday on Monday - a few days in the Los Angeles area, then a few days in Palm Springs, then a few days in Yucca Valley/Pioneertown, then back to LA. Seeing sites, visiting friends, staying in some cool hotels, and getting around to all of these places in a convertible. Awesome birthday vacation surprise. Awesomely fantastic husband. He rocks. He lived in Venice Beach for many years and worked in LA for many more and still has a lot of friends here, some I've met and some who I have not yet met, so this trip is very special as it is his opportunity to show me and share with me his world. I get to see his LA. It is a wonderful way to see a place for the first time.

Yesterday (Friday), we flew into John Wayne airport in Orange county...rented a convertible and drove up to Venice.

Venice Beach is such a cool place. All of these funky little old houses. And the canals. I want a house on one of those canals.

Of course I don't get your typical warm sunny southern California weather...I get rain and colder temperatures. Sigh. We were going to head out to watch some surfing before going up to Venice, but the weather wasn't good and neither was the surf, so we tabled that for a future trip.

We walked the beach in the rain from Venice up to the Santa Monica pier. Beautiful, but wet. We didn't care. It was great to walk along the boardwalk and have a rare moment of there being practically nobody out on that famous walkway. We met friends for drinks at The Lobster (fantastic), then went to the Hotel Casa Del Mar (incredible) for more drinks in the lounge. As we were hanging out in this awesome hotel lounge, live music started up and I loved it. And then suddenly Paul and I were looking at each other and saying, wait a minute, we know this song...what is this, who is this performing? It was the Leftover Cuties, who are awesome, and we know them because they do the theme song for The Big C on Showtime. Laura Linney. Cancer. Its a funny show about a painful situation. If you don't know the Leftover Cuties, check them out. They are so good. Described as..."Imagine Billie Holiday playing ukulele under a palm-thatched hut in 1930's Waikiki and you'll get a taste of the soothing sound of the Leftover Cuties." It was a great night. My only complaint is that I drank too much wine, did not drink enough water and did not eat enough food. Trust me when I say - I am paying for it big, big, big time today....


But we still managed to wake up fairly early today on Venice Beach to a glorious morning and it was nice until the afternoon when it started to rain. We stayed at a fantastic hotel that I highly recommend - The Cadillac Hotel. It sits right on the Venice Beach boardwalk. Built in 1914. Summer home of Charlie Chaplin. All rooms recently renovated. Make sure you get a room that looks out onto the ocean.

The view from our hotel room this morning...

In addition to highly recommending all the places above, we had a fantastic lunch on Friday and then breakfast today at the FigTree Cafe. It is a great place to sit and people watch. And man oh man oh man the Venice Beach boardwalk is THE BEST, and I mean, the best, people watching I have ever seen. I love people watching and I love great people watching places, and this beats everything I have seen anywhere. And it was kind of chilly today out there, and I didn't even make it over to the Muscle Beach section, so I realize I was barely seeing the tip of the iceburg. All walks of life. All kinds of people. Doing all kinds of things. And riding all kinds of contraptions. A super, beautiful, fascinating freak show. My words here, trying to describe what I saw today on that boardwalk, would not do the reality justice. So just take my word for it. Better yet, go see it for yourself if you never have. I can't wait to get back there.

Tomorrow...Hollywood. Stay tuned...