mmm-yoso!!!

Guanajuato (2022) - La Table de Andrée and La Clave Azul

After our walking tour and lunch at La Vela, we did a bit of shopping, then returned to our room for a short nap. Soon enough it as dinner time. On the evening we had dinner at Mestizo, there was a restaurant we noticed across the street named La Table de Andrée. It was a French restaurant....in Guanajuato......we looked over the menu and decided why not? After our dinner we strolled over and made dinner reservations.

We had early reservations and were the first customers in the restaurant. The staff was really friendly and accommodating.

The Missus got a glass of wine which She enjoyed and we placed our order.

The baguette was interesting; it was super light almost like banh mi.

The amuse was bacon wrapped dates.....not a bad start.

We ordered the Pate de Cerdo al Cognac - pork pate.

This was not bad; porky, slightly sweet, boozy-winey, nicely chilled and moist, a bit on the crumbly side. It went well with the whole grain mustard which added a bit of pungent-spice. The portion size was quite generous as well.

The Missus got the Camarones a la Persillada - shrimp with parsley sauce.

The shrimp was a tad overcooked and the risotto was on the hard side. The sauce was nicely flavored though.

I went with the Hachis Parmentier, a classic French dish that uses leftover Beef Stew topped with mashed potato and baked.

This version used a very flavorful leftover Beef Bourguignon, super tender and beefy, and I believe there was come chorizo as well in this. It was topped with buttery mashed potatoes and cheese which was nicely broiled adding a wonderful texture to things. his was quite good!

The Missus enjoyed Her dessert.

Overall, the dinner was better than we thought it would be. I'm thinking that being a college town, there might be a diverse clientele......as we noticed some French speakers, a German couple among the other customers.

La Table de Andrée
Positos 66
Zona Centro, 36000 Guanajuato, Mexico

After dinner we decided to head on over to the bar Susana recommended and we were glad we did.

    It was somewhat divey, the bartender was super friendly, the decor was quirky and eclectic. The music was what I often call the Unites States' greatest export...rock 'n roll.

I enjoyed my Victoria and chased it with some local Mezcal. Guanajuato is one of the nine states within Mexico that have DO (Denomination of Origin) to produce Mezcal. This was a nice Espadin the bartender picked out for me.

We really liked the bartender and the vibe and would end up returning here the following evening.

La Clave Azul
Segunda De Cantaritos 31
Centro, 36000 Guanajuato, Mexico

We then headed on over to Jardin de la Union....all cities have their central plaza, where folks gather during the day (and night). For Guanajuato it's Jardin de la Union. Things were bustling and alive.

Folks walking and chatting....Mariachi working the crowds. We ran into a young lady selling cheesecakes who walked up to us and spoke perfect English. She is from Texas, but returned with Her Dad to Guanajuato. She helps out the family by selling the dad's cheesecakes, which were terrible, but of course we bought some. I wish I could remember her name; she was so sweet.

It was a lively scene.

We were enjoying our time in Guanajuato.

Thanks for stopping by!

Roadtrip (2022) - Bob's Well Bread and Lunch at Bells (Los Alamos)

After an excellent dinner at Bell's, the Missus and I were looking forward to our return for lunch. But what to do in Los Alamos before lunch? We had pretty much seen the entire town the day before.

I thought that the Missus and I should ponder that over some caffeine and perhaps a croissant? And I had a place in mind. 

At the Eastern edge of the (4 block) downtown area in a structure that was formerly a gas station resides Bob's Well Bread.

The business has quite a story. You can read it here. Bob's Well Bread has quite a following, mainly for the artisan, small batch bread made from all natural ingredients. I've heard the phrase "like European" artisan breads in several posts I saw. We wouldn't be grabbing a loaf on this trip; but since it said "Croissants" clearly in the window sign, how could I not try that?

We went in and ordered a Cortado for the Missus, a cold brew for me, and a croissant. The Missus also got several cookies as well.

We then went and had a seat sat one of the picnic tables outside.

I was expecting to have my name called, but the very nice young woman working actually brought us our coffee and croissant. How nice!

  So, how did this croissant lineup? In terms of the looks department, it was beautiful; perfectly baked. It was crisp and flakey; the interior so moist and almost creamy in texture. Unfortunately it was really lacking in butteriness and since I love my croissants au buerre, this failed at the "third point". Bummer.....

The Missus did love the cookies we bought however, and I think if we're in the area we'll stop for those and perhaps a baguette.

Bob's Well Bread Bakery
550 Bell St.
Los Alamos, CA 93440

As for our plan? We decided to head on over to Solvang which is just 20 minutes away and get some cookies for the Missus's coworkers. We then took a stroll around Danish Disneyland and just chilled.

We then returned to Los Alamos, relaxed a bit, then checked out. I parked the car and we crossed the street to Bell's right at 11am.

   We had requested to sit on the patio again. Same relaxed and friendly service. A lot of the Servers were wearing "Franch" t-shorts.....Bell's say they serve Fr(ench R)anch cuisine. 

We looked over the tempting menu and placed an order for four dishes and then went one step father. There was a sandwich we wanted to order, but knew we wouldn't be able to finish, so we got a takeout order as well!

My two favorite dishes came out first.

The Steak Tartare ($25) was amazing. It is now my favorite version in the U.S. it was just so perfect.

    Just the perfect cut, the beef was super tender, like the night before, all items were perfectly seasoned. Perfect amount of capers, and that egg yolk, oh my! This was just so clean tasting and refreshing.

I also loved the Country Pate ($18), it was tender and had just right amount of wine in it.

Nice amount of offal-ish flavor for me; the cherries didn't overwhelm anything, and the fried shallots in the pate was perfect. Was not a big fan of the baguette as it was typical hard and chewy American style. The frisee was a lovely addition to the dish.

I was shocked that the Missus ordered the Escargot ($16). While the Missus loved the Escargot in Burgundy, She had never found a version here in the States that She enjoyed.

Well, mark this as the first Escargot She liked outside of France....leave it to "Franch" to deliver. Good amount of garlic, nice balanced flavors. The menu noted that these were "wild snails" and they were much more tender than I expected. Still, that baguette......

I was also surprised that the Missus ordered the La Brujula Tinned Mussels in Escabeche ($20)!

These Spanish tinned mussels were quite good, nice and tender. We didn't care for butter and the ketchup like sauces, but the homemade saltines were wonderful.

This was wonderful meal, we actually enjoyed it more than our dinner. And we really want to do it again soon.

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

And as the postcript. On the lunch menu there was Braised Beef Cheek Sandwich that sounded so good. So, after consulting with our Server, we got it to go with the bearnaise aioli on the side.

It was still in fine shape after the five hour drive home. The bread, in this case a ficelle held up fine; the meat was so intensely beefy; I loved the pickled Basque peppers.....

I guess we'll need to return again soon!

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!

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!

Paris (2022) - Circling Back to Arnaud Nicolas and Romance is Alive in the City of Lights

We had a nice little nap after our lunch at Ippudo. Also, we had dinner reservations in the 7th and of course the Missus would want to walk there and back, so we'd be putting in a few miles on this day....I wanted to get in a bit of rest.

I knew that our walk to Arnaud Nicolas was going to be about 3 miles each way and we had reservations for right when they opened at 7pm. So we headed out at around 530 to give us some time to window shop, dawdle, and make stops to check things out.

Sunset was after 9pm in Paris, so it still looked like a bright and sunny Saturday. Look how busy it was along the Seine.

We actually took a longer route because the Missus wanted to see how things were coming along at Notre Dame.

Things were much more calm in the 7th......

We got to Arnaud Nicolas right at opening time. Arnaud Nicolas had sort of become a tradition for us since we first ate here at the end of 2017. We made it a point to try and revisit whenever we could. We had reservations for our last night in Paris back at the end of 2019, but due to getting stranded by the transit strike we never made it. So we were looking forward to this meal. Once seated we noticed a couple of things.....the staff, though still friendly were not quite up to snuff....our Server was so nice, but really couldn't tell us about the wine or even the dishes...I'm guessing Covid staff shortages and such. The place also filled up quite quickly, which is not the norm in Paris where folks eat a bit later.....after a few moments it became quite clear, all the customers were either Ex-pats or tourists.

Listening in to what folks ordered was interesting as no one ordered any charcuterie; which to us is what Arnaud Nicolas winner of the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF) at the young age of 24 was known for. And soon, again probably due to Covid staffing, the three staff were pretty much in the weeds.

As for us......this is what we got...

The Asperges Vertes - green asparagus dish was fine.

The asparagus, in season during our visit was sweet and tender, the egg yolk added a creamy-richness, though the popcorn seemed a weird addition; perhaps it was added for texture, but it really didn't seem to belong in this dish.

Of course the Foie Gras Mi-Cuit was delicious.

 Perfectly textured, with a wonderful balance of offal-sweet tones, it's one of my favorites versions.

Sadly, another favorite of mine, the Pate en Croute of pork and foie gras really fell short. In the past, it was the crisp, light pastry that really made this a favorite of mine. This time it was really hard and chewy....it was even difficult to cut! It was also very cold, which detracted from the flavors as well.

The Fromage de Tete - head cheese also wasn't quite the same as before as it lacked the complex combination of flavors from the different porky pig head parts.....it was strangely on the bland side. We were happy to have the nice and punchy Sauce Gribiche on hand.

The Missus had always enjoyed the Rum Baba here and I was relieved that She still liked it.

While I had a Calvados as my digestif.

Overall, we were a bit disappointed with this meal....perhaps we had expected too much...perhaps Covid had really affected supplies.....we did give the place a pass on the service because of it.

Perhaps next time we'll just order takeout from the deli and have a foie gras picnic.

Arnaud Nicolas
46 Avenue de la Bourdonnais
75007 Paris, France

After dinner, the Missus wanted to see one of Her favorite views of the Eiffel Tower, so we headed across the Seine to the area around Trocadero.

Where She snapped a ton of photos.

I noticed how peaceful things looked along the Seine so we went down the stairs and walked along the river; where we came across something wonderful.

A group of folks had gathered both on the sidewalk above and along the river.

  There was a sign was set-up, candles, photographers, a violinist! Music was playing! All with a view of the Eiffel Tower!

A nervous looking gentleman in a suit paced back and forth......it looks like a marriage proposal was going to happen.

As time passed more people gathered...all here to watch the spectacle. All strangers sharing in a special moment.

We figured that the proposal was to go down when the when the lights of the Eiffel Tower were sparkling!

How romantic!

That time came and went.....it seems the bride to be was a bit late.

Regardless, a few minutes later, a young lady appeared on the walkway and covered her mouth in surprise as she saw the sign.......we all cheered at her arrival. The Missus has an actual video of this, but it was kind of on the dark side, so I didn't include it.

The music played, the crowd cheered, and I'm fairly certain she said "yes".

We were thrilled to have seen this.......

The Missus and I kept smiling during our walk back to the apartment.

Romance is indeed alive in the "City of Lights". Wouldn't you agree?

Roadtrip (During Covid) - Coffeholic (West Covina), Eddie World (Yermo), and Dinner at Partage (Las Vegas)

My attempt at using up all my vacation days led us to schedule another road trip a mere 6 weeks after returning from Yosemite. This time we'd be headed to Zion, Monument Valley, and Sedona....with a couple of stops along the way; which included the SGV and Las Vegas, We again stayed at the Courtyard Monterey Park and again ate at Bistro Na's; so I won't even post on that.

The next morning we headed out to Vegas, first stopping for our caffeine fix in West Covina at a place named Coffeholic.

 This shop was in an interesting location; in the Lakes Mall, near Edwards Cinema, near a bunch of shopping center-chain looking places, banks, and offices. Needless to say, at 8am on a Tuesday, there was not another soul around.

So....service was quick, I had my usual....and the Missus got a pour over (of course), which was super cheap at 5 bucks.....and of course, She got what She paid for.

Regardless, we got our coffee sat and sat for a bit.

Coffeeholic
1240 Lakes Drive Unit B
West Covina, CA 91790

Since we hadn't been to Old Town/Downtown in ages.....like over 20 years we also took a stroll down South Glendora Avenue.....it was so quiet here, almost spooky in a way.....hard to believe this is West Covina.

And after getting in our fix, we headed off.....

It used to be that we'd stop in Barstow for fuel and a "bio break"....but the last time we drove up to Vegas, our usual stop, the Barstow Outlets seemed to be getting somewhat run down. So, I decided that our refueling stop should be at place in Yermo named "Eddie World", which is supposedly the largest gas station in SoCal..... And much like Bravo Farms has restaurants, a huge candy shop....

 And all kinds of snacks and "stuffs" that you never knew that you needed. The restrooms were super clean and it was fun walking around checking things out.

Also, we usually bring nuts and beef jerky on our road trips to cure the pangs of hunger should they set in. This time we hadn't brought jerky; so I bought some stuffs from Jedidiah's Jerky in Eddie World.

We then topped off our tank and headed to Vegas.

EddieWorld
36017 Calico Rd.
Yermo, CA 92398

We got to Vegas in good time. As I mentioned before, the Missus isn't a big fan of staying on the strip, so we stayed at the Homewood Suites on the other side of the I-15 from the strip. Man, had it been over 8 years since we'd been in Vegas? And then of course, there was the question of "where to eat"? Of course, there were places off the strip that had been favorites of years past.

But since we'd be staying on or near National Parks and such, there's not a lot of great choices for eating. I figured we'd be back on the "burger bandwagon" again....so like our previous road trip, I set-up nice "bookend dinners" for us.

After doing a bit of research, I found a French inspired tasting menu only restaurant named Partage, located on of all places Spring Mountain Road, Las Vegas's unofficial "Chinatown" where many of the best Asian restaurants in the city can be found.

I had full intended on driving to the restaurant, but of course the Missus had other ideas and decided we should walk the almost two miles to Partage. 

And so it came to be that we walked to the restaurant.

Partage is located in the same strip mall complex as places such as Shokku Ramen, Pho Kim Long, King Fu Thai and Chinese, and Lee's Sandwiches; so yes, it does kind of stand out.

We arrived at the designated time and were seated.

The menu card has the story of Partage.

The Missus and I both took the 7 Course Tasting ($125) menu; the Missus took the wine pairing ($55) and I selected the Foie Gras and Oxtail supplement ($27). Service was quite professional if a bit stiff and our Server was quite sweet but really didn't know the dishes too well.

Thing started with the Amuse - a Pomme de Truffle. Which was delicious.

A crunchy potato round with truffle....man, this was good!

The first dish was the Butternut Squash Veloute with a Coffee-Truffle Foam.

Loved the earthy mushrooms, which also, along with the croutons added a nice crunch. The coffee-truffle foam tasted a bit odd and the dish was perhaps a bit too sweet for my taste.

The Lobster Cannelloni with Leek Foam, and Lobster Bisque was good.

For me, the wonderful bisque was the hightlite of the dish; wonderful sweet-oceany flavors, velvety texture. The Mimolette cheese in the cannelloni added a nutty texture; though I wish the lobster flavor came thru a bit more in the cannelloni.

The Rabbit Boudin Blanc was amazing, while the Rabbit Brulee had a wonderful texture, but was again on the overly sweet side.

Love the seasonings in the sausage and the mildly gamy flavors of rabbit seemed to fit in so perfectly in a boudin blanc.

The Missus and I shared the Foie Gras supplement, which was quite generous in size.

The foie gras was seared perfectly and was so wonderfully decadent. The passionfruit powder was a perfect addition to the dish and the gingerbread wasn't overly sweet. The was delici-yoso!!!!

The Halibut and Sunchoke two ways was a good dish; the hailibut perhaps a bit overcooked, but still moist and tender.

We enjoyed the unique nutty-sweetness of the sunchoke puree and the hazelnut crusted sunchoke was also quite tasty. A nice variation of textures.

The Oxtail Supplement was an Oxtail Croque Monsieur, which like the Foie Gras supplement was worth the price of admission!

Such amazing beefiness! Having the shaved black truffle didn't hurt at all either!

By this point in the meal, the Missus wasn't really wow'd by the wine pairing. We quickly noticed that almost everyone in the restaurant were having cocktails and not wine. And with good reason....they made some very good cocktails.

The meat course for the evening was a pretty much by-the-book preparation of Beef Tenderloin.

The beef was a bit tougher than I prefer; though I loved the sweet-buttery leek confit and the brioche went surprisingly well with the jus. The red wine reduction wasn't overbearing and added to the flavor of the beef as well.

And the Missus enjoyed the desserts.....

Even though the Missus wasn't too impressed with the wine pairing; I think the very innovative pairing from Six Test Kitchen was still fresh in Her mind; this was an enjoyable meal and a nice start to our road trip.

Partage
3839 Spring Mountain Rd.
Las Vegas, NV 89102

While having dessert, the Missus mentioning wanting to walk back to our hotel via the strip and the sweet young lady looked surprised and recommended we take an Uber. But of course the Missus wasn't having any of that......

And so, we walked down Spring Mountain Road and onto Las Vegas Boulevard. We were kid of freaked out at all the folks milling about maskless.......

It seems like Vegas, looked just like....well, the Vegas we remembered.

We walked all the way to the MGM, before heading back to the hotel. Well, at least I got my walking done on this evening, right?

And tomorrow we were headed to Zion!

Thanks for stopping by!

Wormwood - A Quick Look

Over the years; I've made it a habit of visiting a place in San Diego multiple times before posting. I've always thought it only fair to try several items on the menu and that anyone can have an off day. On vacation or trips it's just not realistic to do that and really....when you're visiting a place you will probably only have one shot at it, right? And so, there have been many possible posts (Trust, Juniper & Ivy, Born and Raised come to mind) that have met the "recycle bin".......and there have been many reasons why we wouldn't return with food not to our taste, terrible service, and price, key among those reasons. There have been some posts like my "never made the cut" or "COMC" posts and more recently during Covid my "visits BC" post....the actual one and done is at the end....can you guess where that is?

But times have changed.......Covid has changed things and of course, prices have gone up like crazy. Even if we like a place it doesn't mean we'll be returning in a reasonable time just based on price alone. 

And so, I thought I'd try and do a some posts on places we dined at recently; which haven't been relinquished to a folder for an extended amount of time. And you can tell me what you think of these.

Again, I have my reservations (no pun intended) about doing these.....but thought because of the Covid rollercoaster, prices and such, I'd just do some quick posts this week. Call it "a quick look" week.

I will reveal at the end if we plan to return in the future or not.....

Our visit to Wormwood was somewhat serendipitous. We had planned on dining elsewhere but our designated dining spot was a bit too busy for us. I had heard that Wormwood in the former location Jayne's Gastropub location was a rather difficult online reservation to get. We just decided to walk on over....and managed to get a one of the tables located in front of the restaurant. Yes, it was kinda windy and got pretty cold; but the young lady manning the host stand was a joy! She was a dog (and cat) lover and seemed to know most of the pooches that walked by....and gave us "heads up" on several......we had a blast dog watching.

The menu seemed interesting; kind of French influenced with an international flair......and we like this type of menu. 

While like the namesake of the restaurant indicates Wormwood specializes in Absinthe based cocktails and such. Though on this evening, neither the Missus nor I were in the mood.....
So we stuck to the food; starting with the "Champignons" - Basically Mushroom Tartletes ($14).

These were very crisp and light, topped with Golden Thread Mushrooms, the tartlets resting on the potato puree. This was a bit light in the earthy-mushroom flavor department, but the crispness was quite enjoyable.

Next up; our favorite dish of the evening....the Missus is leery of ordering mussels at restaurants because many times the shellfish aren't cleaned well, over-cooked and tough, sandy, or taste a bit "off". In this case, the Moules and Merguez ($17) were done quite nicely.

The Mussels were plump and tender, with a light briny-sweetness. The Missus loves Merguez and though there wasn't much of it in the Poblano Cream Sauce, what was there was tasty. The cream sauce was nicely balanced. The addition of preserved lemon added a nice savory-acidic tone that refreshed the palate.

The Confit de Canard ($25) had some potential which was squandered as the dish was very salty. In fact, since I make duck confit at home a lot,  Perhaps they weren't wiping the salt cure off the duck before cooking....or possibly....are they reusing the duck fat for cooking too many times?

The texture of the potato gnocchi was perfect......but again, we really couldn't taste much except for salt.......and couldn't finish this.

I had been craving some beef tartare since returning from Paso Robles, so of course I ordered the Wagyu Tartare ($23).

We really didn't care for this at all. First, the chilled beef was placed on a hot bone and bone marrow......a no-no in my book. Second, the beef was chopped too coarsely chopped and was really tough. Third, the guajillo based sauce overwhelmed everything. 

Like I said, the young lady manning the host stand was wonderful. She even said to call or drop by for reservations as they reserve tables for those customers. As for us; well, I think you can figure that out. Maybe one day.......maybe...

Wormwood
4677 30th St.
San Diego, CA 92116

So there you go......in the "old normal" I would have never done this post......or perhaps, just maybe, waited a year or two and start over.......

What do you think?

Roadtrip (During Covid-19) - Revisits to Les Petites Canailles, the Alchemist Garden, and Spearhead Coffee (Paso Robles)

At the beginning of last October, the Missus and I decided to do yet another roadtrip......this time to Yosemite. We decided to make stops in Paso Robles at both ends of the trip. We were excited to revisit a couple of our favorites, Les Petites Canailles and the Alchemist Garden. I'll keep verbiage to a minimum since I've posted on these places several times already.

We started the evening at Les Petites Canailles and this time were seated indoors. Things were spaced out quite nicely and we felt comfortable with the set-up.

Sadly, the Rabbit Terrine we had enjoyed so much on our previous visit was no longer on the menu.

And overall, this meal did not quite hit all of the "high notes" as the last time we had visited.

Still, LPC makes one of my favorite versions of Beef Tartare, served at the perfect temperature, great balance in flavors and textures.

Still a winnah!

The Spanish Octopus was not quite as good this time around as it was on the the tough side.

I was interested in the pasta dish since the conchiglie, basically shell pasta was made locally by Etto. The texture of the pasta was perfect and it was dressed well. Sadly, the pistachio pesto was way too mild and there just wasn't enough acidity brought on by the sun dried tomato. 

We would however, drop by Etto's shop in Tin City on our way back and bought some of their pasta.

The Mushrooms en Persillade with confit egg yolk was fairly good....though it needed a bit more salt and seasoning in our mind.

The Leeks a la Plancha was quite good, as the leeks were nicely charred, bringing out the herbaceous sweetness, the Espelette Pepper added a nice smokiness and just the lightest touch of heat; we actually wished there was more. Loved the mild sweetness, nutty - butteriness, and distinct flavor the pine nuts brought to this dish.....which it surely would have added to the pasta dish.

Overall, I enjoyed this meal more than the Missus (I could have that beef tartare weekly).......I'm not sure we'll be returning here for a while.

Les Petites Canailles
1215 Spring St.
Paso Robles, CA 93446

Of course our next stop was the Alchemist Garden....it was our third visit and it did not disappoint.

While the Missus got one of the cocktails off the menu......I wanted something custom made....so, I asked for an Old Fashioned, mentioning I like smoky tones....and the Mixologist was off to the races.

He torched some sage and then covered it to get a more smoky flavor and made me an amazing Old Fashioned.

I guess the Missus really wasn't too satisfied with our meal LPC....She ordered some fries; which were pretty good.

 Which meant that I could have another cocktail. This time the gentleman had something else up his sleeve. He asked me if I'd ever had a "Clear Old Fashioned"....I told him that I'd heard of it; but had never had one.......so....we were then off to the races!

He explained making the cocktail to me while putting it together. He took his time trying to finds the perfect ice cube; saying that "it had to be clear enough that after stirring a bit, it would be transparent when the cocktail was served"!

He told me that in his opinion Rosemary was the perfect match for this cocktail and set off to smoke some for the drink.

And yes, it's difficult to make out the ice cube when the drink was served.

Man, these folks are artists..........

The Alchemists' Garden
1144 Pine St.
Paso Robles, CA 93446

The next morning; while I went to refuel the car, the Missus went across the street to get us some coffee at Spearhead Coffee.

The Missus got Her pour over and I a cold brew and were we ready to hit the road.

Spearhead Coffee
619 12th St.
Paso Robles, CA 93446

There's something we really enjoy about Paso Robles...the vibe, the people....the sense of humor and artsiness.....

Thanks for stopping by!

After Waiting Almost Two Years....is it still "Happy Hour" at Et Voila?

Last week, we finally did it, after waiting almost two years, we decided to return to Et Voila for Happy Hour. The place had been a Happy Hour favorite of our for years; and while they they did takeout for a period, it was never the same. We picked a day early in the week and arrived right at 430 to minimize contact. The place was empty and the Owner, Ludo was so happy to see us. Since this was Happy Hour, we sat in the bar area; which they've opened up and put screens up, and also dividers between pairs of seats. Just two other couples arrived during our time at Et Voila, one pair for HH and the other dining in.

The Missus started with a glass of wine and I got the Huckleberry Bourbon ($12 at Happy Hour)

A bit weaker than I recalled, but still fine.

We ordered our usual for Happy Hour..........

The Beignet de Champignons ($10 during HH) were perfect; hot, nicely fried, perfectly salted.

Crisp on the outside, creamy - earthy finish. 

The Missus got Her Raviolis aux Champignons ($13 during HH).

We've had occasion when this dish is a bit too sweet for us...and my goodness, they are really loving the foam these days. But this was well done, a hint of truffle, saltiness from Parmesan cheese, earthiness of the mushrooms.

And we also got the Terrine de Porc et Pistaches ($11 during HH).

Rustic porkiness; a hint of sweetness, this really made me miss Paris and our favorite charcuterie restaurant.

So, did Et Voila deliver? Yes, they sure did. It had been so long....there were moments when the Missus and I took bites of food, looked at each other and laughed out loud. This felt....just so normal and right. Something that had been missing from our lives for a while now. I'm not sure when we'll be doing this again, but I wasn't having those thoughts on this evening....I was just enjoying the moment.

Et Voilà!
3015 Adams Ave
San Diego, CA 92116
Current Hours:
Tues - Thurs 430pm - 9pm
Fri - Sat 430pm - 930pm
Sunday 430pm - 8pm
Closed on Mondays
Happy Hour - Served at the Bar Only
Tues - Thurs 430pm - 730pm
Fri - Sat 430pm - 6pm

We hope all of you are doing well!

Paris (Before Covid) - Restaurant ERH and Golden Promise Whiskey Bar

Yet another quick pre-Covid travel post. 

We returned from our little day trip to Chartres and took a nap and rested a bit. For dinner, I chose a restaurant close to where we were staying. We'd be flying out to Tel Aviv the next morning and just wanted something close by. That didn't mean it would be just another dinner though. I had made reservations at Michelin starred ERH restaurant. The restaurant as basically two blocks from where we were staying.

Noting that ERH shares an address with a sake bar and a whiskey bar, we arrived early for our 730 reservation; and notified the restaurant that we'd be having a aperitif at the Whiskey Bar named Golden Promise.

We each enjoyed a cocktail whilst waiting for our table.

Soon enough our table was ready.

The restaurant is very low-keyed and was were really interested in the tasting menu since the chef, like many of our previous fine dining meals in Paris was Japanese, Keita Kitamura. IN fact, ERH stands for eaux (water), riz (rice), and homme (man), as a homage to the three necessary ingredients for sake.

I'll try to keep this post brief from this point forward.

The amuse:

Jerusalem artichoke with Ikura was amazing! The Parmesan Crisp was nice, the potato cream tasted like taro....

As was the monkfish fritter with sate and basil.

The scallop was so very sweet.

The veal tartare was also quite good.

That radish and haricot vert cream just blew me away.

The Foie Gras dish was served in a novel manner.

In a pastry of sorts, with mango and beets to add some interesting textural and flavor contrasts.

The "Bar de Ligne" (Eropena Bass) with Oyster dish was a bit underwhelming.

Really salty, the persillade (parsley) sauce not really adding much to the dish.

The Carnard de Chaland with Chou Vert, which seemed to be Brussel Sprouts rather than cabbage was quite nice.

Great complexity, sweet - sour - bitter.

And the Missus enjoyed the desserts.

A very nice experience; one which we'd gladly do again.

ERH
Golden Promise Whisky Bar
11 Rue Tiquetonne
75002 Paris, France

As I had my usual beer before sleeping, I again thought about how lucky I was to be able to have these experiences.

The next day we were up early and caught the RER to CDG.........

Next up...Tel Aviv!

Thanks for stopping by!