mmm-yoso!!!

Road Trip - Brix Restaurant and Firecreek Coffee Company (Flagstaff)

Back in September of last year the Missus and I took a wonderful road trip. For our first stop, it was between Phoenix, Sedona, or Flagstaff. While the Missus enjoyed the hiking in Sedona, we didn't care for the restaurant scene that much. And we'd do a bunch of hiking during this road trip and there was one stop I was interested in close to Flagstaff; so FLG it was. The drive was pretty long, it took us over 8 hours. We did stop for a quick lunch in Phoenix at Flower Child and headed back on the road. We got in just after 430pm and checked into the Residence Inn. We liked this location when we were last in Flagstaff and our dining destination for the two evenings here were in walking distance.

We had dinner reservations for 6pm and headed out a bit early just to stroll around the historic downtown area.

Just a couple of blocks from downtown, in a former carriage house that was built in 1909 was our dinner destination; Brix Restaurant and Wine Bar.

While the service was a bit slow, the staff was very friendly and this was far from being a stuffy fine dining destination. The Missus enjoyed the wine list and I started with a nice cocktail.

We started with the Elk Tartare and the Wood Roasted Mushrooms.

The Elk Tartare was nicely chilled, though it was on the mushy side in terms of texture.

 Those yellow dots were an egg yolk emulsion...I would have preferred a drippy egg yolk as the emulsion really didn't add much to the dish, the horseradish was also strangely mild in flavor. The celery leaves did add a nice boost of palate restoring flavor. Perhaps if they chopped it a bit smaller you could get more than three bites.

The Wood Roasted Mushrooms was another dish that suffered from having a bit too much going on.

The local mushrooms were so earthy, with a mild sweetness and had been nicely roasted which created a layer of smokiness. The miso black garlic puree was so salty and just overwhelmed the wonderful mushrooms. 

The bread soon arrived. Like many other places, Brix is now charging for bread and butter. It was $5 at the time of our visit.

I had ordered the Cavatelli.

The pasta, which is similar to shells was pretty thick and overcooked, making it quite mushy. I could have used more basil in the pesto and more pine nut flavor. The preserved lemon was quite strong in flavor and as with the mushrooms, it over powered the dish. The fava beans were wonderful, adding a nice nutty flavor to the dish.

The Market Fish was cooked to perfection.

Crisp skin, moist flesh, and that watercress added a wonderful crisp bitterness. The cannellini beans were undercooked and hard...and you know how the Missus us about Her beans, right? The tomato consomme was salty, but added nothing else to the dish. It was kind of sad since the fish was done so nicely.

In the end, the friendly folks working outshone the food. Yes, service was a bit slow, but the staff were so nice. I just wish the dishes were more to our taste.

Brix Restaurant & Wine Bar
413 N San Francisco St.
Flagstaff, AZ 86001

On the way back to our room I wanted to take a look at the Hotel Monte Vista. 

 

Why you might ask? Well, the Hotel Monte Vista has been named the most haunted spot in Arizona (check out the stories on that website)! There are supposedly several, ahem, "guests" who have never checked out. There's a "phantom bellboy" that knocks on the door to room 210...in fact, John Wayne is said to have reported this ghost to the staff several times. You can even read about some of those "ghosts" on the hotel's website. And also on this website as well. You know me and stuff like this, right?

Why didn't we stay here? Well, having already having spent a couple of nights at one of the most haunted hotels in the US, without any disturbances, I really didn't feel like pushing my luck. Plus, I was pretty tired after all that driving and wanted a good night's sleep, which is what I got.

In the morning we woke and I went downstairs to the breakfast buffet and took some stuffs back to the room. I then headed out to grab us some coffee. I had a place located just two blocks away named Firecreek Coffee Company on my list so I headed on over.

The gentleman working was quite nice and friendly. I got the Missus and Ethiopian Pour Over which She said was ok and I enjoyed my Cold Brew.

I'd gladly return here.

Firecreek Coffee Company
22 Historic Route 66
Flagstaff, AZ 86001

Having had a light breakfast and bolstered by caffeine we were ready to head on out.

Oaxaca - Dinner at Origen

As I mentioned in my previous post on Oaxaca, our dinner at Casa Taviche marked a turning point with regards to dinners in Oaxaca. And our dinner at chef-driven Origen was our favorite of the trip.

We spent our time after exploring Monte Alban and lunch at Boulenc shopping. We found an adorable ceramic shop, but unfortunately the items the Missus wanted were waiting for pick-up by a restaurant. But, the wonderful young woman who worked here remembered the Missus and I and alerted us to some great items when we returned later on the trip.

While doing some planning for our trip, I came across mentions of Origen and the wonderful modern dishes with roots firmly planted in traditional Oaxacan cuisine. In fact, I read that the Chef's mom is regularly at the restaurant. Not as a customer, but actually working with the mole and doing quality control! So, I booked us a table. The restaurant is located in beautiful colonial style building right on the other side of the Zocalo from where we were staying.

We were seated upstairs with a nice view of the courtyard below and the wonderful decor above!

Our Server was amazing, so warm and friendly, professional, but with a great sense of humor. There was an item on the menu I didn't recognize and she didn't know the English translation, so she tucked her elbows in at her hips, brought her wrists up to her shoulders and with her hands started flapping her "wings"! It was perfect.....it was quail!

The amuse was wonderful! The corn flavor was so prominent, the mole rich but not overly sweet.

Things started off with the Ensalada con Gusanos de Maguey - A salad of wild greens with Maguey Worms.

   The variety of flavors in the greens was amazing, peppery - anise - bitter - nutty as were the various textures. The hoya santa "pesto" had a nice peppery-minty tone.

The roasted maguey worms were crunchy, light, and nutty in flavor.

The Duck Confit Enchiladas were up next.

While the duck was a bit drier than we prefer, the mole was quite good, not overly sweet and complex in flavor. The tortillas for the enchiladas were really good, fantastic corn tones, which went so well with the local cheese and the gaminess of the duck.

The Missus had really enjoyed the Mole Sugueza we had at Casa Taviche, so when I saw Grilled Octopus with Mole Sugueza on the menu, I knew we had to order it.

Man, this was so good! The pulpo was so tender you could cut it with a fork, it had been simply seasoned and had a touch of briny-sweetness. The mole segueza was awesome; full of maize flavor, smoky, and quite complex in flavor! The black specks was Chicatana Ant Sauce, which had almost a smoky-milky flavor to it. An outstanding dish.

Last up was the Beef Tongue with Chichilo Mole Sauce.

   This mole was a bit thinner than others we've had. It had a nice spice to it and went well with Beef Tongue. We loved all the veggies here, they were so full of flavor!

Our Tlayudas were provided in a fancy holder that I thought was an envelope at first!

The dessert; a corn spongecake with cacao ice cream wasn't overly sweet and was quite refreshing.

We loved this meal. As I mentioned earlier it was our favorite meal of the trip. The food was excellent, wonderful combinations of flavors and textures. Our Server was adorable, so warm, yet really on top of things. The pacing was perfect!

We can't wait to return! Soon, I hope!

Origen
Miguel Hidalgo 820
68000 Oaxaca, Mexico

Montpellier - Reflet d'Obione

I had a nice dinner planned for our first evening in Montpellier with reservations at the one Michelin Star Reflet d'Obione which I had read about in this post on the Edible Reading Blog. Being that we were spending an entire month in France I knew that we'd need to pick our "tasting menu" spots judiciously. We surely didn't want to burn out on these places. We both thought that having a nice dinner in Montpellier would be fun.

There was a reason we had taken our specific walking route earlier in the day. The restaurant was close to Porte du Peyrou off of Rue Foch, down a quiet side street so I wanted to have some familiarity with the area. Like many of these places, which really don't need to advertise, the entry was rather simple and discreet.

And the interior simple, but classy as was the service.

We took the larger "Horizon" menu which featured 7 courses and shared a wine pairing. All the dishes are sourced from the region and seasonal. Montpellier is located a short distance (+/- 10 kilometers) from the Mediterranean, so we were interested to sample the seafood,

The oysters were nicely presented and prepared.

Crisp and briny, with savory minced sea asparagus (salconia) and was topped with frozen, mildly tart shavings that we were told was yogurt (?!?). This was a very nice start to the meal.

The next item was a bit strange. They called it Alkaline Broth.

This was like a weak dashi with sprouted lentils in it. 

The scallop dish was outstanding.

The scallop was perfectly seared, rare, sweet, and tender. The charred endive was wonderfully sweet with a pleasant bitterness, the sabayon was light, yet rich, with a very clean finish.

The Missus loved the Guinea Fowl Quenelle.

Which was light and savory; but I think it's the celeriac puree, the Missus is not a big fan of celeriac, which went so well in this dish with a light celery-sweetness. The coffee veloute was a nice and savory surprise.

The Langoustine was sweet and tender.

And one thing we had noticed with this and all of the previous items; in spite of the rather elaborate presentation and combinations, the flavor of the primary ingredient shone thru. The minced butternut squash and puree went well with this.

The local line caught fish, in this case sea bass was again seared perfectly. Tender, buttery, with a hint of sweetness.

Up to this point we had enjoyed this dinner more than what we'd had at Granite a few nights previous. The one dish that we enjoyed more at Granite was the pigeon. Here the overall flavorings of the pigeon was too sweet and tart.

We did love the beetroot Napolean, though it added yet another layer of sweetness to the dish that was not needed in our opinion.

The entrements were good, refreshing, and very restorative.

The Missus enjoyed dessert.

And heck, even non-dessert lover me, enjoyed the Chocolate Fondant, which wasn't overly sweet.

It was rich and creamy; the praline crisp with the unique nutty flavor of chicory.

This was an excellent meal. The service was well paced, efficient, polished, and professional, while still being friendly. Except for the wine pairing and the pigeon dish, we enjoyed this more than Granite in Paris.

Reflet d'Obione
29 Rue Jean Jacques Rousseau
34000 Montpellier, France

Well, Montpellier who knew.....

Paris - Au Petit Versailles du Marais Revisited and Dinner at Granite

We were really enjoying our day in Paris and decided to just keep on strolling to Tuileries Garden.

Familiarity had changed our perception of distance in Paris. Places that used to seem quite far now seemed relatively close.

And we got to Tuileries Garden in what seemed to be no time at all. The Tuileries Christmas Market was being set-up and we could see that the Ferris wheel was already in place.

It would be in full swing when we returned to Paris.

Even though it was fairly chilly, the sun was out, so you could count on Parisians and a tourist or two (i.e. us) taking time to enjoy the day at the fountain and pond known as the Grand Bassin Rond.

It made for a relaxing afternoon.....

I'm not quite sure if it was the weather, something in the water, perhaps the air, or the environment, but we would readily adopt, the French equivalent of "Afternoon Tea", known as Le Goûter. We just seemed to flow into it. And it started on this day as the Missus decided She wanted something sweet and a spot of tea from that place She had come across when I took my baguette class on our last visit. So we headed back to the Marais and Au Petit Versailles du Marais.

After ogling the dessert collection.....

We headed over to the tea salon, grabbed an outside table, ordered the Missus's selected pastry, tea for Her, and coffee for me.

The woman working here is a hoot....she works real hard at wooing folks in who look at the menu sign and always says "best choice...best choice...." when you select one of the pastries.

I gotta say, I even enjoyed the Royal Caramel as it wasn't overly sweet.

Au Petit Versailles du Marais
1 Rue Tiron
75004 Paris, France

After our snack we headed back to the hotel and took a break.

I had made reservations for dinner with a restaurant I'd had my eye on since reading about it in Alexander Lobrano's blog named Granite. It helped that the restaurant was less than a 10 minute walk from our hotel.

Located on Rue Bailleul, Granite does modern French, and the chef Tom Meyer worked under Anne-Sophie Pic at the 3 Michelin starred Maison Pic.

The place looks quite modern.

The service was quite warm and yet professional and we got the 7 course tasting menu with a single wine pairing which the Missus enjoyed.

Things started out with an oyster course.

The brininess of the oyster was balanced out with a bit of sour tartness from green apple and the celery like flavor of lovage. The menu stated that kimchi was used in this dish but I couldn't detect that. Very clean and refreshing overall.

We both loved the Cepe; porcini mushroom which was wonderfully earthy.

The mushroom was seared perfectly with almost a buttery texture, though the other items on the plate added a bit too much sweetness for us.

Like the mushroom, the scallop was seared perfectly, the interior was perfectly rare and sweet.

Though there was a bitter component in the dish that distracted from our total enjoyment.

The Artic Char was wonderful.

Tender and buttery in texture; the lentils were wonderful and almost nutty, and there was a light sweet earthiness to the dish which elevated the flavors. The sauces really enhanced this dish.

Of all the items presented for this meal, we enjoyed the Pigeon Course the most.

 We were instructed to start with the "naan", basically a buttery cube of flatbread with wonderfully flavored fowl in it. The skewered liver was wonderfully gamy and delicious. 

But the real "winnah" was the seared pigeon breast which was quite tender, wonderfully gamy, the sauce featured chocolate which was more savory than sweet. There was so much complexity in the flavors. This was amazing!

The rose foam was a perfect palate cleanser.

I enjoyed the Pomelo Meringue as it wasn't overly sweet.

The Missus loved the chocolate; which was very decadent, without being overly sweet. The Earl Grey sorbet was wonderful as it added a grounding, almost lemon-orange flavor which went so well with the chocolate.

We enjoyed the service and pacing. And while I don't think we'll be returning; there are just too many options in Paris, this was a pleasant meal.

Granite
6 Rue Bailleul
75001 Paris, France

 

Edinburgh (2022) - Dinner at Restaurant Martin Wishart

We had wanted one blow out meal during our stay in Edinburgh. So after doing some research and then trying to hunt down reservations I came up with Martin Wishart. Even though the one Michelin Star restaurant was in Leith, almost 2 1/2 miles away, we could always catch a cab if we desired. Of course, as things ended up we walked both ways. It was a fairly pleasant walk. Leith was once Edinburgh's seaport and had fallen into disrepair following World War II. But during the early 2000's, the neighborhood has been revitalized and with the mooring of the Royal Yacht Britannia and the conversion of the Ocean Terminal into a shopping center, along with artists, musicians, and designers moving into the area it has been ranked as one of the coolest neighborhoods in the world. Well, we walked on over and the place seemed quite mellow on this Saturday night, we were probably in the wrong area, but we kind of enjoyed the relaxed nature of things.

We were greeted immediately after entering the restaurant. Service was friendly and professional, though the timing of the dishes was inconsistent as there were a few long waits between dishes. The Sommelier though, was outstanding! He helped the Missus pick Her tasting as if he read Her mind and totally understood Her taste and preferences. 

The Missus and I decided to go with the three course "Market Menu" and each had one of the two choices available for the three courses. That way we could taste one of each item available on the menu.

Things started with some delicious bread and the four course amuse bouche featured beetroot and crowdie, cod roe and fennel, potato and smoked egg yolk, and horse radish and celeriac.

The highlite was the smoked eggyolk and potato, the flavors of each component seemed so intensified

The Sea Bream Tartare was nice though nothing really special.

Having both the strong flavor of lemon and the brininess of capers was a bit much. The soy foam was fine. The fish had been perfectly prepared and marinated though, the texture was a perfect creamy toothsomeness.

The Roasted Veal Sweetbread was an amazing "earthy" and textural delight.

The sweetbread was perfectly fried, crisp coating, creamy interior, slightly earthy and mildly sweet with a hint of offal sharpness. The flavors of the morels added another luxurious layer of earthiness with a nutty finish. The broadbeans finished things off nicely along with the wonderful jus.

Another dish that was perfectly prepared was the Roast Peterhead Skatewing.

The Sauce Grenobloise, featuring brown butter, capers, and good acidity went well with the creamy but mild flavored skate wing. There were a couple of escargot thrown in that really didn't add anything to the dish in our opinion. Loved the confit tomatoes which added a deep acidic fruitiness to the dish. The artichokes were surprisingly creamy.

The Roast Saddle of Dornoch Lamb was wonderfully gamy and meaty, if a bit on the dry side. We loved the rub and sear on this.

This version of Pomme Salardaise, basically garlic potatoes with a good amount of fat, was almost like a creamy croquette. Speaking of croquette, that's a wonderfully porky and crisp fried pork belly on the bottom left which almost looks like one, doesn't it? The asparagus was crisp, fresh, and mildly sweet. The jus featured thyme which was used judiciously and didn't interfere with the overall flavor of the dish.

For dessert the Missus chose the Passion Fruit Creme Fraiche Tart.

Which She enjoyed saying it was both refreshing and quite rich.

I chose the Cheese Course (an extra £10 supplement).

   I wish I took notes on the cheeses. That bleu was fabulous! And like I mentioned earlier the Sommelier was fabulous. When I asked for a "Spot of Port" to go with the cheeses, he selected an amazing Tawny that was perfect with the bleu!

We took the macaroons and "stuffs" to go because we were "stuffed".

The Missus enjoyed these during the rest of our stay in Edinburgh.

Overall, professional but not stuffy service. A bit slow and off in the pacing as the evening wore on, probably due to staffing. The Sommelier was amazing.

Restaurant Martin Wishart
54 The Shore
Edinburgh, Scotland

We then hoofed it back to the apartment. Even though it was a Saturday evening things were pretty quiet as we walked back which was unexpected, but we enjoyed.

We had one more full day in Edinburgh, and we'd try to make the best of it.

Thanks for stopping by!

San Miguel de Allende (2022) - Dinner at The Restaurant and a Revisit to Lavanda Café

We headed out for dinner on our second (and last) night in San Miguel. As with our previous dinner I had taken a recommendation and made reservations for the meal. It was a nice, short stroll to dinner, just a short distance from the main square.

Located in a restored mansion, The Restaurant apparently created quite a buzz when it opened in 2008, and has been credited with changing the food scene in San Miguel.

The dining room is situated in the lovely courtyard (so many beautiful courtyards in SME) and the menu is somewhat globally focused.

Since we had a late lunch we would stick to one of our favorite strategies and go with several appetizers and one main to make our meal.

We started with the Beef Carpaccio - $300/MX.

The beef was tenderloin and quite lean, the truffled ponzu was quite pronounced in flavor and to be perfectly frank served better as a dressing for the nice crisp veggies and potato strings. Loved the addition of mint and cilantro on this.

The Charred Octopus ($300/MX) was indeed quite charred and a bit more chewy than we prefer.

The overall bitterness of the charred Cephalopod marred the dish, though the tomatoes were sweet, with the perfect acidity, and the avocado puree helped balance out whatever heat that was provided by the habanero sauce.

I was intrigued by the Shrimp and Scallop dish ($510/MX), which featured curry dusted scallops and shrimp, and a cauliflower puree, with lentils.

This was pretty good as the shrimp and scallops were perfectly cooked, the curry flavor was tempered and really harmonized with the creamy, nutty-lightly sweet mashed cauliflower. Loved the lentils which added a nice earthy flavor and textural contrast to the dish.

The most interesting item we ordered was the Cheese Plate ($285/MX).

Yes, that's right, the cheese plate. Why? Well, it's all local/regional cheeses and except for the bleu cheese....I'm thinking that it's basically based on the type of edible mold from the area, all the others were pretty good.

    The Missus enjoyed the wine selection and the service was professional and accommodating.

The Restaurant
Diez de Sollano y Dávalos 16
37700 San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato Mexico

After dinner we strolled on over to the heart of SME, the Jardín Allende. The Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel looked lovely as the sun slowly set.

And unlike when we visited earlier, the church was open and wasn't having any special event going on, so we went to take a peek inside.

After taking a quick look into the church, we crossed the street to the Jardin and had a seat and enjoyed the passage of time.

It was a nice evening for us.

The next morning we slept in for a bit. The owners of the B&B sent me a text and asked if we wanted them to make us breakfast. Since we were the only customers staying in the place we told them to not go thru the effort. Plus, the Missus wanted to try another pour over from Lavanda Café. So we headed on over a bit before they opened and were the first customers on this morning.

The Missus got Her pour over which She enjoyed.

And we shared a Salsa Verde con Chicharron which the Missus enjoyed.

 The eggs were perfectly cooked, nice tanginess, a bit of heat, a nice, hearty breakfast.

Lavanda Café de Especialidad
Calle del Dr Ignacio Hernandez Macias 87, Zona Centro,
37700 San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

Since we were the only folks staying at our accommodation, we were told to just take our time, and that we could check out at noon instead of eleven. This would make things work out better for us in terms of getting to our next stop Guanajuato, which would take around 2 hours via Uber.

It was a pretty quiet morning around the Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel.

Since the clock was just striking ten, we decided to check out the Museo de San Miguel de Allende right across the street that opened at ten.

   Most of this museum is dedicated to it's former resident; Ignacio Allende, who became a hero of the Mexican War on Independence. The Allende family was a wealthy family and the museum is housed in the family's former home.

Much of the family's living quarters have been restored and I especially like the replica of the original kitchen.

The first floor contains a history of the region as well.

It was a nice little diversion. And soon enough we had to head back to our room and finish packing; call our Uber, and then we were off.....

Next stop Guananjuato!

Thanks for stopping by!

Roadtrip (2022) - A Stroll Around Town and Dinner at Bell's (Los Alamos)

After getting lunch in Los Olivos, we headed up to our main destination for the road trip, Los Alamos with a population of under 2,000. Why, you might ask? Well, when doing research for road trip destinations and Michelin restaurants, I came across a one-star restaurant in, of all places, Los Alamos! WTH? To make it even more enticing, the cuisine was French; or French influenced....in fact, we got a laugh when we saw that Bell's claimed they served "Franch" cuisine!

We've always enjoyed the Santa Ynez Valley, so we thought why not spend an evening in Los Alamos? We arrived a bit early at our accommodations, the Alamo Motel, which was basically right across the street from Bell's, though the main strip of the town is basically 4 blocks long! I notified the really efficient and friendly young lady in charge that we had arrived and she promised to text us when our room was ready.

And then we set off to take a look at Los Alamos.

There were two markets, well make that one market.....

And one convenience store....a couple of wine tasting shops, several restaurants, one really good looking bakery, which we would check out the next morning, and  a couple of art/antique shops.

 We did a bit of "window shopping" and folks here as would be expected were super warm and friendly.

We really enjoyed slowing things down and relaxing......

I had read that Los Alamos became popular as a stagecoach stop.

And there is undoubtedly a "old west" vibe to the town.

Check out the 1880 Union Hotel.

Apparently, the saloon here was a great place to grab a cocktail before Covid; but is now open for private events only. Bummer, it would have been fun comparing it to the Iron Door Saloon in Groveland.

Many of the buildings were repurposed, but kept signs and other indicators of the history visible.

We returned to the motel; our room wasn't quite ready yet, but there is a wine bar in front of the motel.

Along with some nice shaded seating, quite important on a pretty warm day. The Missus and I had some sparkling water and just relaxed until our room was ready.

Soon enough our room was ready, 2 hours earlier than scheduled. I walked over to the market next door, grabbed more sparkling water, and the Missus and I settled in and had a nice nap.

We awoke nice and refreshed. We took a short stroll before dinner. Yep, that's pretty much the town below.

Loved this street sign!

With Covid still in our head, we had made 530 dinner reservations outdoors. 

We were seated in the lovely back patio. The Service was so relaxed, very friendly, and we just enjoyed ourselves. Bell's is super dog friendly; in fact there were four pooches having dinner with their "hoomans"!

This one was especially charming!

Bell's does only a Pre Fixe menu for dinner, which at the time of our visit was just $75 per person. The husband and wife team (Daisy and Greg Ryan) behind the restaurant are alumni of Per Se and Daisy Ryan, who is the chef was named one of the Best New Chefs by Food & Wine Magazine....yes, in Los Alamos.

We placed our orders and during the evening, the Missus wasn't sure what wine to match with Her dishes....wouldn't you know, the great staff brought Her like 6 different whites to try? And they were like "half pours"!

We started with the Santa Barbara Sea Urchin and ordered it with the Caviar ($15 supplement). As you can see; the uni was pristine; just perfect.

It had a wonderful sweet-brininess, buttery texture....in fact, it didn't need the caviar which kind of over powered the dish. I was worried that the mille crepe would be on the sweet side; but it was quite neutral in flavor and basically was just a wonderful vehicle to get that uni to your mouth.

What we noticed with the quite simply dressed Salade of Finley Farms Lettuces was how perfectly each leaf was dressed.

In what would be a recurring theme; we enjoyed the wonderful balance of flavors and seasonings.

To us, the least impressive dish was the Santa Barbara Bluefin Crudo.

The bluefin was of good quality, but call us jaded, we thought the ojo blanco and the garlic oil really didn't stand up and uplevel the mild flavored fish.

We absolutely adored the Duck Confit.

The Missus told me; "this is what I want your duck confit to be"! Egads! This was wonderful, perfectly seasoned, not overly salty, perfect firm, but not hard texture, fairly moist. It went so well with the jus, lentils, and the sweet-acidic tomatoes! The sourdough croutons added a wonderful crisp-crunch to the dish.

At this point the Missus asked me if we could hang around a bit longer the next day (Monday) and get lunch here. I was able to make reservations for lunch! So we'd be returning the next day.

I had seen Ris de Veau on the menu online; but unfortunately, that had been replaced by the time we had our dinner; so I ordered the Bodega Bay King Salmon.

Man, those heirloom tomatoes were outstanding and the tarragon added a nice anise touch to this; something I would not usually put on salmon I make. The capers added that nice briny-salty component and the Hollandaise added a nice, balanced creaminess to things.

The Missus got the Capuchon de Chevre, basically a hood shaped pasta stuffed with chevre.

Loved the combination of the eggplant cream and the sweet corn; what a wonderful combo!

The Missus got the Almond Financier which was to Her taste (i.e., not too sweet).

Quite refreshing.

I got the Dark Chocolate Glacée.

Which, while being ice and cold....wonderful on a very warm day was a bit too sweet for me.

Overall, an excellent meal. The staff was so wonderful and we loved the fact that there was an automatic 20% service charge for the staff. It's great that Bell's really wants to make sure the staff who are from the area are paid well. And then I was told that our Servers comped two of the glasses of wine, so I made sure to leave a bit more.

Bell's
406 Bell St.
Los Alamos, CA 93440
Current Hours:
Thurs - Mon 11am - 3pm, 5pm - 830pm
Closed on Tuesday - Wednesday

We took another short stroll after dinner, it seemed like everything closed at 6 or 7 on Sundays. As we headed back to our room, the Missus and I noted how relaxed we both felt. I guess Los Alamos will do that to you!

The Missus and I were both looking forward to lunch the next day. And guess what? We enjoyed that even more!

Stay Tuned!

Roadtrip (2022) - A Walk Around Downtown and Dinner at Nocciola (Ojai)

We took a short nap after our busy morning. It was quite warm when we woke. The Missus was fully engrossed in the book She purchased from Bart's Books the previous day. So, while She relaxed in the air conditioned comfort of our room; I decided to head on out for another walk.

This time, I walked on over to the Arcade and walked thru the the middle portion.

It was quite charming with art work and friendly folks.

There is a distinctive vibe to the town. It's laid back, and drivers actually stop to let pedestrians cross the street. Folks were telling me hello as I walked past them.

I wish I took photos of all the pooches we met. There was one little fellow being transported in a "stroller"; he looked so cool with his shades and his hat on. On the previous evening we were walking back to the hotel and a woman and her pooch we had seen earlier were walking toward us. She put the leash down and went to adjust her jacket. And then totally forgot to pick up the leash and started crossing the street without her dog! The dog sat on the corner with a puzzled look. Such a good boy!

You could just see the thoughts racing thru the little fellows head:

"Huh? Am I an orphan now?"

"Why is my mommy walking away without me?"

"I'm being a good boy; is my mommy going to come back for me?"

As the woman walked toward us, I pointed to the pooch on the corner and told her:

"You forgot something...."

She turned around, cracked up, and jogged back to get her little one.....

I walked around the front of the Arcade and crossed to street to check out Libbey Park.

It was a nice albeit pretty warm day. I also noticed that there were many more cars around, nice cars, like Porsches, 'Vettes, and such.

The next day was going to be the 4th of July and Ojai has a bunch of events the most popular is the parade which goes down the main street. People claim "their spot" by setting up chairs on the sidewalk.

There were chairs set-up from when we arrived!

Spending more then one day in a town like Ojai means you start seeing interesting touches around the town.

I headed back to the hotel, relaxed for a bit then we headed out to dinner. Our dinner destination was about a mile and a quarter from where we were staying, which was a nice walk. We reached Nocciola a bit early so we took a look at the park across the street. Cluff Vista Park was once the site of a gas station, but had been converted into a nice little park.

Our dinner reservation was for Nocciola, a Italian influenced restaurant located in a Victorian House. We had reservations for patio dining; the tables were perfectly spaced, the service was very professional, and we enjoyed our meal.

For our meal we ordered one Insalate, two Antipasti, and one Secondi. We mentioned that we'd be dining "family style" and things started off nicely as the kitchen automatically split the Crescione ($19), the Watercress salad without us even having to ask.

Loved the pleasant bitterness of the watercress, the salty-milky Parmesan crisp, the hearts of palm, and were pleasantly surprised that avocado tastes quite nice with a bit of balsamic on it.

   The Olive Oil served with the breads was wonderful; peppery and grassy, just like how we like it.

The Missus also had Her favorite glass of wine on this trip; a Alisl Vineyard Grenache. In fact, we went looking for this bottle on the walk back to our room, stopping at several places, but to no avail.

I was really looking forward to our next dish; the Lamb Carpaccio ($21). Sadly, it was the weakest dish of the evening. It really needed more salt, was lacking in the "flavor of the pasture" which makes lamb so distinctive. It was just strangely bland in flavor so that the julienned celery just overpowered the dish.

The Quaglia ($26), roasted quail set things back on track.

The quail was tender, moist, and full of flavor. The porcini mushroom so wonderfully earthy and delish. The polenta had a wonderful texture, somewhat firm, but creamy. The Marsala sauce completed all the players and didn't over power the dish. Very good.

The Anatra ($42) was also delicious.

That confit duck leg was excellent, the skin crisp, the simple flavor of the duck shining thru.....the Missus gave it Her seal of approval by saying "this is a good as yours"! I thought the roasted breast was a bit over done, but it was still moist and tender, with a meaty-gaminess. The truffle honey glaze was nicely balanced, not overly sweet, with nice nutty-earthy-savory tones.

We really enjoyed this meal. Like I mentioned earlier, the service was efficient and processional. Our settings were changed between every course, the table scraped down between courses.

Nocciola
314 El Paseo Rd.
Ojai, CA 93023

It seems like our meals got steadily better each night we were here!

We enjoyed our stroll back to the room as we made several stops to do some wine shopping along the way.

The next day we packed up, while we liked the fact that Ojai had a great Fourth of July Parade and festivities, we weren't comfortable with the crowds. We got our caffeine fix at a familiar stop and headed on home. It had been a nice road trip and I'm sure we'll return to Ojai one day. 

Roadtrip (During Covid) - Dinner at Kai and Caffeine Fix From WhereUBean Coffee (Phoenix)

We could have easily just headed home upon leaving Sedona, but I had one more overnight stop in mind. On this road trip, I had decided to bookend our travels with some more upscale meals. On the way to Zion we stopped in Las Vegas for dinner at Partage. On the way back home, I decided we should spend a night at the Sheraton at Wild Horse Pass and have dinner at Kai Restaurant, the only AAA Five Diamond and Forbes Five Star restaurant in Arizona. Beyond those accolades, I was fascinated by the menu which is described as having "distinct interpretations of Native American cuisine using fresh local ingredients for elevated dining." I thought it would be a nice end to our road trip.

Upon checking in to this rather posh resort, we relaxed in our room.

We had a nice view. 

We got ready for dinner and left our room a bit early to do some shopping in the gift shop before heading off to the restaurant. With Covid measures in place, it seemed like reservations were staggered and until one third way through our meal, we were the only folks dining. The service, while discreet is definitely professional and polished; the Servers all knew our names, crumbs cleared off the table between every course, silverware changed, and still, the service wasn't hovering and did not feel stuffy in the least.

The decor is low-keyed, the walls festooned with the craft and artwork of the Pima and Maricopa Tribes and each menu has distinct artwork featured on it as well. I was told that the watercolor on my menu was of the Maricopa Butterfly Dance.

The meal is tasting menu only, with several choices for the "Birth", "Beginning", "The Journey", and the "Afterlife". We decided to share a wine pairing with dinner.

The Amuse was a very nice Sablefish wrapped in Basil Flower. The Olive Oil served with the bread was outstanding and we were told it was from Queen Creek Olive Mill.

As always, the Missus and I shared our course which would give us tastes of a good range of items.

The Escargot with Wild Mushroom was an interesting mix of textures, the truffle crema added some decadent touches to the dish. There was a bit more sweetness then I expected in this dish from the black garlic, bread, and the caramel goat cheese.

We both loved the "Pee-Posh Garden".

While it might have seemed to be a bit much when reading the ingredients on the menu, it was a symphony of textures and flavors, from the fermented white asparagus, to the crunchy and mildly sweet pecan "soil", to the pickled beets, nutty-sweet sunchoke puree, and buttery confit potatoes.

 I'm sure you know if foie gras is on the menu, we'd be ordering it, even with a $20 supplement. The fois gras was nicely seared, the interior nice and smooth, rich, earthy, though the roasted and compressed apple was perhaps a bit on the sweeter end of the spectrum for us.

The Pork Cheek and Crisp Belly was nice and "swiney". Perfectly done; the Anasazi Bean adding a nice, sweet-earthiness to the dish.

The mains...ummm "Journey" were prepared well, if a bit on the "standard" side.

The "Kachk", black cod with fennel puree was cooked well, nice and creamy. We appreciated the fact that the fennel puree did not overwhelm the dish.

This could have used a bit more aggressive seasoning in our opinion.

Kai's signature dish is the Grilled Tenderloin of Tribal Buffalo was cooked to a perfect medium rare.

It is of course buffalo....thus a bit on the "toothsome" side. A bit milder in flavor than what I expected, the corn puree and saguaro syrup made this a bit sweeter than I like as well.

The cheese plate was quite routine.

Dessert was served with some fanfare.....

Both desserts were outstanding and not overly sweet.

The Chocolate and Queen Creek Olives.

The Mousse "stones" where wonderful, so decadent and creamy inside, with the "hidden" olive cake adding a touch of savoriness, and the lemon foam had just enough cirtus-acidity for the dish.

The Cactus Melange was also stellar.

That Nopales and Lime sabayon was outstanding and it's really hard to describe the taste of the nopales sherbet.

We loved the parting gift.

Definitely not a inexpensive dinner at almost $600 with tip.

Kai
5594 W Wild Horse Pass Blvd. (At the Sheraton Grand At Wild Horse Pass)
Phoenix, AZ 85226

After dinner we took a stroll around the property.

The next morning we headed home; stopping for coffee and a light breakfast at WhereUBean Coffee.

Nice, relaxed coffee stop; really friendly staff. When I grabbed a Earl Grey cake for the Missus, the guy working pointed me to the "Happy Little Accident" discounted slice....he must've known how much I paid for dinner the previous night!

The Missus got a pour over and I an Americano....

And soon enough we were on our way.

WhereUBean Coffee
4804 E Chandler Blvd.
Phoenix, AZ 85048

It had been a fun road trip:

Starting with our first visit to Las Vegas in over 8 years.

And then to Zion, Angels Landing, and a Ghost Town.

Moving on to Mystery and Monument Valleys.

And I even got to do my best Forrest Gump impression and "Stand on a Corner".

We even got our "selfie" moment at a sandstone arch.

Thanks for coming along!

Paris (2022) - It's Labour Day (La Fête du Muguet), Café du Centre, La Maison d’Isabelle Revisited, Dinner at Les Enfants Rouges, and Motors Coffee

**** This is a pretty long post; though it does feature our favorite meal of our recent trip.

We slept well after having done a good amount of walking the previous day. While we had reservations for dinner on this evening; which I was lucky to get since our initial dinner reservations we had made were canceled just a week before our trip....I think the restaurant had forgotten that it was going to be Labour Day. And even more interesting, it was both a Sunday, when many businesses are closed anyway. But I was told that museums were going to be closed as well as most shops and restaurants; much as indicated in this blog post. On May 1st, France celebrates worker's rights and also "La Fête du Muguet" (Lilly of the Valley Day)....we saw many folks carrying little bouquets of Lily of the Valley. I read that on Labour Day, it would be fun to just go to a park and see families enjoying the day.

And so we just headed out, walking the few steps to Rue Montorgueil to find that both Café Montorgueil and Café du Centre were open. As I've mentioned before, one of our favorite things is to sit outside at a café on a street like Rue Montorgueil and watch the world go by during the day; before or after the lunch crowd and before apéro time. Over our visits I've kind of gotten the signal down as to if it would be ok to occupy an outdoor table for just coffee and sit. To me it's a simple rule - if the table has place settings, that would be forks, knives, etc; it means that folks sitting would be expected to eat some food. If the table is bare....with perhaps an ashtray (yes, folks still smoke when dining/drinking on the sidewalk) or a menu, it's okay to just grab a seat at an empty table and have some coffee or tea....or perhaps a glass of wine. Our favorite at Café du Centre is right on the corner, where we can watch life passing by.....

And of course there are the many pooches....

Many of which believe they are "in charge"......

We saw this couple walking down the street with the cutest, obviously loved, and pampered pooch being carried and I had to take a photo.....

The gentleman saw me and waved, I waved back and smiled and they decided to come on over for a more "formal" photo.

Remember all those folks who told you that people in Paris were uptight and not friendly? 

Café du Centre
57 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France

From here, I thought it might be nice to head on over to Jardin du Luxembourg to see how folks were enjoying the holiday.

So we set off, past Les Halles and then down Rue des Déchargeurs. Crossing Rue Rivoli we saw this distinctive building.

According to Atlas Obscura, 59 Rivoli was:

"An artist squat for years before being renovated by the city and returned to a collective of artists."

We crossed over the Seine and decided to take a detour to see if our favorite Croissant Bakery, La Maison d’Isabelle was actually opened on this holiday. We were in luck, the place was open, but the line was rather long.

It seems like Parisians are fine with waiting in line....so, why not?

Sadly, they were out of Croissant au Beurre; so we settled for the Croissant Ordinaire (the version made with margarine).

La Maison d’Isabelle
47T Boulevard Saint-Germain
75005 Paris, France

From here it was a straight shot down Rue Valette to the Pantheon, which I posted on before. Of course it was closed on this day.

Though as you can tell; folks were out and about....enjoying the sunny day.

And then right down Rue Soufflot to Luxembourg Garden; where everyone seemed to be having a great time.

The folks renting out the little boats were during some bang up business on this day.

We strolled around a bit; then found a nice bench and tried out the croissant.

While the texture was every bit as good as the "butter" version; we definitely missed the balance of butter to salt and this seemed a bit "bland". Not bad though.

We sat and enjoyed our time sitting on the bench in the shade; though there were quite a few people just enjoying the sun.

After a period of people watching, we decided to head on back to the apartment for our afternoon nap.

We really love all the green spaces in Paris.

Wew passed Hotel de Ville where there seemed to be some kind of fair going on.

And heading down Rue Aubry le Boucher at Place Edmond Michelet (in case you're wondering who Edmond Michelet was) we saw this mural.

We had enjoyed the morning and enjoyed our nap even more.

Before our trip I'd tried to make dinner reservations for the first of May......but because it was either a Sunday OR a Holiday I was having a difficult time. Then, I did manage to get reservations to a place I'd been wanting to try, Automne, only to have them cancel on me. After going down my list a bit; I found that another place from said "list" actually had early (at 7pm) reservations. The restaurant, located in a part of the Marais I'd always wanted to check out, right around the corner from Marché des Enfants Rouges, named Les Enfants Rouges. It was, as many of the places we'd tried in the past like ERH, Pertinence, and Alliance helmed by a Japanese Chef along with Michelin Stars. There's something about French cuisine with Japanese touches and sensibility that we really enjoy.

We headed back up the now bustling Rue Montorgueil to Rue Reamur. By the time we got the point where Rue Reamur became Rue de Bretagne we were running ahead of schedule. So we decided to take a break and people watch at Square du Temple. It was such a nice stop; it's hard to imagine that this space was where the Knight Templar once had their castle in the 17th Century!

From here, it took us less than 5 minutes to reach our destination.

As we turned down the alley like Rue de Beauce....well, a certain "fragrance" permeated the air.......the Missus wasn't sure that She'd really wanted to eat here. And well; at least we know why they wouldn't have any outdoor seating!

We were kindly greeted when we arrived....the Hostess spoke to me first in Japanese, which I fumbled badly thru, switching to English! The restaurant was tiny and I was glad we'd made early reservations.

The staff here were wonderful and accommodating which was really on display when a couple came in and when it was time to order......apparently the woman was allergic to stainless steel and nickle (?!?) and made it known that she could not consume foods that had been exposed to certain metals nor anything that had been braised. The hostess came out and even brought out the cookware that was going to be used to make their dishes for inspection!

The Missus went with some wine off the carte.....

Of course we kind of shared things....starting off with the Roasted Padrons and of course I had to get the Foie Gras on Toast.

The Padrons were nicely fired and salted.....there was of course the "pepper roulette" as a couple were nice and spicy.

The Foie Gras was from Landes in the Aquitaine region portion was quite generous.

Both appetizers were good, but nothing amazing. 

But after the bread and "Trou Normand" the show really started.

The White Asparagus with Smoked Haddock was a show stopper.

My goodness; the wonderful sweet and tender white asparagus, we were so glad to be here during asparagus season; along with the smoky, yet not overwhelming smoked fish...the cream sauce tasted like there was some dashi in it....this was wonderful.

I got the Lamb Terrine which was also a winnah!

The texture was terrific; just enough toothsomeness. Loved the balance of gameyness, wine, and mild sweetness. I could eat this everyday. The tarragon based pseudo Sauce Gribiche was too good to put to waste. Lovely pickled radishes and shiso helped to restore one's palate between bites.

Then came the dish of the night; the Tempura Merlu.

The batter was light and crisp; the Merlu (hake), from a place we'd visited before Saint Jean de Luz, had a mild sweetness and was so moist and tender. Though it was that sauce; made with seaweed...it did look like nori, was amazing! Deeply savory, with umami for days. This was a really Japanese cuisine leaning dish. Man, some rice with this would have been amazing!

I ordered the Pork Belly.

Of course the Missus poached that tender, crisp asparagus spear. The tempura broccolini was nicely crisp as well.  The morels and the risotto was nice and earthy-sweet. The pork belly really did taste like a cross between Vietnamese Thit Kho and Buta Kakuni and it was delici-yoso!

I decided to celebrate the dinner with a nice glass of Yamazaki.

Whilst the Missus enjoyed the desserts......in line with the Japanese touches; the desserts weren't overly sweet.

That Lychee granita and grapefruit supreme was wonderfully refreshing.

Like I mentioned earlier, the service was wonderfully accommodating. We noticed that many of the customers were Japanese. Our dinner, with wine, drinks, etc was $265/US! Cheaper than some places in San Diego!

I think we'll be back to this somewhat hidden, cozy spot.

Les Enfants Rouges
9 Rue de Beauce
75003 Paris, France

We had a nice, relaxing walk back to the apartment. And slept soundly......

Our flight to Edinburgh wasn't scheduled until the afternoon, so we didn't have to check-out until 11 or so.

While scheduling and researching this trip I started noticing more craft coffee places in Paris, something I didn't come across during previous trips. There were two places within walking distance and on this morning, I walked on over to Motors Coffee on Rue des Halles.

It's quite the modern craft coffee shop and wouldn't be out of place in San Diego.

They even did cold brew and pour over....called "drip" here....they even had 3 "Geisha's" on the drip menu! I ended up getting the Missus a natural brew and we'd return later for Her to try the pour overs.

I actually had an Americano, which I thought was pretty good.

Motors Coffee
7 Rue des Halles
75001 Paris, France

I even grabbed a Croissant au Beurre from Bo & Mie since it was kind of on the way back to the apartment.

We seemed to be just getting into the groove here in Paris and were somewhat reluctant to leave. But Edinburgh beckoned and we'd be returning for a few more days on the way back!

If you've stuck around to the end of this super long post; I thank you so much! Have a great week!