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Los Angeles, San Francisco, Scottsdale (okay, I guess that's southwest).....
By the time you read this, I'll be on my way to Vegas (if I'm not there already). I only went
there once this year, and ironically, I went to see Barry Manilow! Guess which song he sings for his finale?
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| Moose is a happy dog! |
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| Always up for a party, attention, and lots of scratching! |
| Scenes from Ann's shower |
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| At the Water Tower |
San Francisco
Based on fodorite recommendations, I went to Restaurant Jeanne d'Arc, which offers
a $29.95 prix fixe menu. Please note, for the price, this is not Bistrot de Bretuil. This place prides itself on "country"
French cooking and its rusticity does show up. What it lacks in creativity, it makes up for in impeccably fast, psychic service
(how did the waiter know I wanted those 3 things out of everything on the menu?). The vegetable soup was a puree, very bisque-like
but not as heavy. The salad with seafood in puff pastry was very nice, not too big and filled with tasty shrimps & scallops
in a white sauce. And then...voila! The lamb shank was fall-off-the-bone tender. It was like eating an upscale oxtail stew.
Unfortunately, this course was extremely heavy and I started getting sleepy after 2-3 bites into it! Thank God the dessert
served as a pick-me-up. The orange souffle was the best--light, crisp, sweet--everything a souffle should be, and more. "Too
much, too sweet," the waiter assures me, as he pours just the right amount of creme anglaise into the well. Sure enough, he's
put in just enough to make the souffle shine. I can't stop digging in, and before I know it my meal is over. ~sigh~
Last year, Cheryl pointed out that London is to New York, what Paris is to San Francisco. If you cannot get to
Paris for Bastille Day, the next best party really is in San Francisco! Everyone gets into it--the Irish pubs
have block parties, even the Golden Gate Perk internet cafe offers $5 beers and
a Kal Bi special. "Do you know that Korean barbecue is the best in the world?" says the haole kid behind the counter,
as if to explain why they'd offer Kal Bi to celebrate a French holiday.
Forget trying to get into a French restaurant without advance reservations! Jill and I went to Cafe
Claude, which was so packed they had bouncers to keep the angry hordes of people (sweartng in French) with
no reservations, out. The Coquille St. Jacques was nice and light, with two stuffed scallop shells and a light salad.
I had the mussels, which were very tasty but not like Plouf. Jill had the lamb, which was sliced into medallions and
equally tasty. Both items will make you feel satisfied but not overly full, so you can save room for the fantastic creme
brulee.
One more new discovery was Eric's Restaurant, featuring Hunan and Mandarin
style food. There's not much parking for this popular restaurant, which tastes a lot like Little Village. Their
won ton soup is supposed to be good, but we took it a step further with wor won ton soup, which had chunks
of meat, vegetables, and plump jumbo wontons swimming in a thick broth (like gravy). One of my favorite dishes was the
sesame beef, wich was sweet with a hint of spice, over crispy rice noodles. The mango prawns is also very nice (but
spicy), with minced red onions to bring out the sweetness of the mango, almost like a fruit salsa. The ma po tofu is
a huge platter of rich gravy with tofu, peas, pork, button and oyster mushrooms, and other tasty tidbits.
Ann's dad kept saying, "This is the real thing!" The spicy eggplant is like other spicy eggplant dishes you'll find,
with basil and three kinds of meat. The fried rice is nice because they use jasmine rice instead of Uncle Ben's.
I don't normally eat Chinese food when I travel, but you can bet I'll be looking to eat at Eric's again!
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Sonoma
This summer I went to Sonoma for Ann Kim's wedding (now Ann Lou). She got married at the BR Cohn
Winery, which is owned by a guy who used to manage the group Chicago. One of the winery's most charming features
is their dog Moose, who is as big as a barrel and loves a good party. He kept getting loose during the wedding to work the
crowd and just loved the attention! Have you ever seen a dog smile like that?
The winery's wedding coordinator was
quite a self-absorbed control freak, and reminded me of a person I worked for once. Other than that, the event was wonderful.
You know how you tend to gravitate toward the same kinds of people for friends? Such is the case with Ann. I got to meet many
of her close friends from around the country, and we got along so well from the start that it was as if we knew each other
for years. We were all really amazed at the wonderful chemistry.
The bridal shower was held at the Sonoma Mission Inn,
which offered a full spa with every treatment imaginable. After a tough day at the spa, it's nice to kick back at the Water Tower for lunch. The Kumamoto oyster pupu ($10) includes a dozen oysters in tiny shells with
a tasty, drinkable dressing. This was light and rich all at once, dainty enough for us girls but easily good enough for a
manly man. The Pacific blue crab salad ($12) is basically lump crabmeat shaped into a disk, surrounded by citrus pieces and
vanilla oil dressing. Very tasty and a must for crab lovers. Mitzi whacked a big burger, which was moist but so huge that
she could not finish her fries. We all helped her with the fries, which we all agreed were crisp and wonderfully salty (you
can't miss the salt).
The rehearsal dinner was at the Girl and Fig, right in the
middle of Sonoma. The mixed salad with figs ($7.95) seems to be their signature salad, which was easily snarfed up leaving
no scraps. Figs are so wonderful in salads! "I didn't like that at all!" laughed Ann Z. at her clean plate. I peered over
and replied, "Yeah, you sure taught them a lesson." We indulged in the ribeye steak ($17.95) with blue cheese butter, crispy
onions, haricots verts and shiraz mashed potatoes. You absolutely can't go wrong with this order, especially if you are a
meat and potatoes person. For dessert, the profiteroles were basic, but the fruit cobbler was rich, tangy, filling, and comforting
in every bite. In fact, the fruit cobbler was a testament to the statment, "Everything is better with butter!"
| Celebrating Bastille Day in San Francisco |
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| At Cafe Claude with Jill |
Los Angeles
One of my favorite things to do is get a long layover, anywhere, and jump outside to get a taste of local fare. Such
was the case on my way home from Rio. A 7 hour layover in LAX afforded me the time to catch the bus to Santa Monica, where
I had lunch with Alison from Southwest Airlines.
The Border Grill, owned by the Two
Hot Tamales of Food TV fame, is a nice stop on your way to Santa Monica Mall or--better yet--the Promenade. It seemed appropriate
that bossa nova tunes overhead lulled the lunch hour away, making it a perfect escape from any office. Alison had a pretty
chicken salad ($13.50) offering tender slices of chicken on bright fresh greens, accented with cubes of mango and (we think)
pineapple. I had the lamb tacos ($8.50), which are shredded and cooked in a light sauce, then served over mini tortillas with
peppers and cheese. Two kinds of rice and black beans round it off for a very filling meal. This meant that we were too full
to try any of the fantastic-looking desserts!
| Border Grill's Dining Room |
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| I lost my photo of me & Alison with the food. |
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Sedona & Scottsdale
| View of Sedona from Chapel on the Hill |
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| Desperately seeking an Energy Vortex.... |
| I'm surprised we made it to class the next morning |
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| With my Canadian buddy Virginia Dekker. Guy on the right does not want to be Daisy Fresh. |
| Feelings for tattoos |
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| No trip is complete without a taste of the local....er, culture. |
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In April, I drove to Sedona to see if I could find the energy vortex in Boynton Canyon. In my rabid desire to get there,
I drove all day and hiked all day without eating. By the time I was ready to eat, it was tea time, and the only restaurant
I could find that had a suitable between-meals menu was The Secret Garden in Tlaquepaque.
Their light midday menu is full of tasty choices, including a fruit & cheese plate featuring cheeses selected by the chef.
I had the crostini with cilantro pesto & tomatoes ($8.95), which smells incredible and tastes even better. It's not too
heavy and is a good choice no matter what time of day you're eating it, but be warned that it will give you extreme
garlic breath. I may not have found an energy vortex that day, but this crostini gave me the energy I needed to drive all
the way back to Scottsdale.
Back at the Sunburst Resort, dining at Balleen is a real
treat. It's like eating at Ryan's Grill with a southwest twist. I sat at the bar with the chef's wife, beating off Asian fetishists
while trying to enjoy the meal. I had the Bibb lettuce salad with a spicy creamy dressing ($9.95) topped with cheese and pepitas.
Zesty!...but a little too nutty for me. The BLT salad ($9.95) is served in a stack and tastes as fantastic as it looks. I
guess you could say it's the low-carb version of the famed sandwich, and you really don't miss the bread. The seared scallops
were done to perfection, and you can order it as a pupu for $15 or as meal with fennel & a citrus risotto for $24. Just
order the pupu, trust me. The chef's wife claimed that the crab cakes ($13.95) were to die for, but I wasn't as turned on.
Don't get me wrong, they were good, but they were stretched with corn, tomatoes, and bell pepper, which I felt overpowered
the crab. Different strokes for different folks!
Outside of that, I didn't get to do any outstanding eating--just one
night at PF Chang's, and once at Kona Grill in Fashion Square, but it was all upscale mall fare. One night after a party,
we headed for Dos Gringos in Old Town Scottsdale, which is supposed to be a great place
to eat. Instead, we found ourselves in the midst of scary-looking bikers. As I stood at the bar, I turned to one scary fellow
and recommended a particular Bath & Body Works hand cream to help him feel daisy fresh. He scowled and growled, "Ah don't
think ah want to be daisy fresh!" So much for civilizing the natives.
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