mmm-yoso!!!

Big Island - Dinner at Merriman's and Waimea Town Market (Kamuela/Waimea)

During our last trip to the Big Island, we decided to stay the night. As I've mentioned in a previous post from almost 10 years ago, Kamuela holds a special place in my heart. I'm glad the Missus enjoys the laid back, gentrified, farm-village vibe of the town. This time around we decided to stay for the night; something we hadn't done in years. We stayed at the Waimea Country Lodge and enjoyed strolling around town. For dinner, I had made reservations at Merriman's. We'd had dinner there over two decades ago and really didn't enjoy it much. This time, I hoped for better.

We walked on over.....

We arrived a bit earlier than our reservation; but the young man at the host stand told us "no problem" we have a table. We experienced this type of warm and accommodating service during our entire meal. It was such a pleasure dealing with folks who were efficient and professional, yet so very warm and kind.

The place was about two-thirds full at 530 pm. The Servers and staff seemed to know quite a few folks eating, so I'm guessing many were regulars from this town of about 9500. The Missus and I were so impressed by the staff....there was a young man with obvious learning/cognitive disabilities having dinner with his parents. Apparently he's a regular. All staff members dropped by to tell him hello, they knew he was wearing his "favorite shirt", they knew his favorite dishes....they embodied the "Aloha spirit". And this reminded me of why I almost took a job there back in the early 90s!

It's totally a tasting menu here two starters and desserts and a main. What we really enjoyed was that you could order 2 first courses and bypass the dessert! We ended up ordering three starters and one dessert which suited us perfectly!

Peter Merriman is considered one of the pioneers of "Hawaii Regional Cuisine", something that I have a love-hate relationship with. At its best the food represents the melting pot of people and cuisines of my home. At worse it is a cliched, soul less con-"fusion" of flavors and textures. I was hoping for the best here and the wonderful service had us off to a good start.

The amuse was Smoked Ulu (breadfruit) with Taro Chips. Basically a version of pulehu ʻulu.

I don't think the Missus has had ulu before. There were all the flavors She enjoys in this; a mild smokiness, a pleasantly sweet-rich flavor which harkens to a mix of sweet potato and roasted chestnut. She loved it.

Next up, the Shoyu Poke.

The Ahi as of excellent quality, so tender, well marinated in shoyu, though we would have appreciated more inamona and ogo. The mashed avocado kind of dulled the flavor of the poke.

The shrimp in the Grilled Wild Shrimp Bulgogi was fabulous; sweet and briny.

This really didn't need much and we were glad that the "bulgogi" flavoring did not interfere with the wonderful sweetness of the shrimp which were also cooked to perfection.

The Kalua Pork Quesadilla was our least favorite dish of the evening.

The pork was too salty, the smoke flavor too mild, the "tortilla" was more too hard and brittle; the sauce too sweet. This could have used something with a bit of "heat" to it.

The Missus ordered the "Day Boat Catch". 

The fish was mahi mahi and was quite fresh, nicely cooked, mist and tender. The prawns were the highlight of this dish; fabulously tender and sweet. 

This being cow country; I went with the Kua'Aina Beef Tenderloin. It was a great choice.

   It was cooked to a perfect medium rare, loved the beefiness. I was told this is grass fed beef, so I expected it to be more toothsome. The cauliflower was delicious; at least that's what the Missus said as She quickly poached them all from the plate. The jalapeno mashed potatoes were quite creamy and not really spicy at all.

The Missus enjoyed the "Chocolate Purse".

Overall, we enjoyed the meal and loved the service. We'll definitely return in the future.

Merriman's Big Island
65-1227 Opelo Rd.
Waimea, HI 96743

I had picked the Waimea Country Lodge for a simple reason. Right next door is the Waimea Town Market, which opens at 730am on Saturdays! In fact, I could see the market, which takes place at the Parker School from our window.

And we headed on over right after the market opened.

We enjoyed our time there.

And made some nice purchases.

Waimea Town Market at Parker School
65-1224 Lindsey Rd
Waimea, HI 96743

On a fun note; the gentleman who was working the Akaka Falls Farm stand started chatting with us. He asked us where we were from and we told him "San Diego". He asked "where in San Diego"? And we said "Bay Park". He stuck his hand out to us for handshakes and told us, "North Clairemont baby!!!!" We cracked up.

Such a small world, huh?

COMC - Memories of Meals in Provence (Before Covid)

**** This post is done by request. It's of places we visited back in 2019. I'll be back with more up to date posts tomorrow!

I was recently asked about some recommendations for Provence. The reader (who requested anonymity) sent me a fine email asking me if we'd ever been there. And yes we had! And we loved our tine in Provence and enjoyed our stay in Avignon. But why no posts you might ask? Well, we visited in the winter of 2019. I always seem to have a backlog of travel posts it seems. By the time I had gotten around to posting on our trip....well, this thing named Covid happened. For the longest time, I really didn't feel comfortable doing travel posts.....in the middle of a pandemic. And then when I restarted, well, I was so behind. I was not even going to do posts on our trip to Israel and Jordan. But thanks to "FOYs" KerriK and LaurieH, who both indicated that they wanted those posts, I did them. But by the time those were completed it was mid-spring of 2022! I did a post on our short stay in Paris before heading to Provence and then decided that with a huge backlog of travel and road trip posts to just forgo posting on Provence. I did mention our "interesting stay" at CDG, before heading home from that trip since it dovetailed into our returning to Paris in 2022. So, since this "FOY" wants to see some photos of our meals in Provence....waaaay back from 2019, here goes.

La Cuisine du Dimanche (since closed):

Was our first dinner in Avignon.

This was an interesting meal. Some of the combinations were odd and the presentations somewhat strange for some dishes.

La Cuisine du Dimanche
31 Rue de la Bonneterie
84000 Avignon, France

L'Agape:

This was a nice dinner. Modern presentation, nice flavors.

L'Agape
21 Place des Corps Saints
84000 Avignon, France

Avenio:

Our favorite dinner during our stay in Avignon.

Avenio
19 Rue Des Trois Faucons
84000 Avignon, France

Maison Ripert:

This was a nice meal. A bit too much going on, but still excellent ingredients.

Maison Ripert
28 Rue de la Bonneterie
84000 Avignon, France

L'Épicerie de Ginette:

Lest you think we were just eating in fancy restaurants. one of our favorite places was L'Épicerie de Ginette. We visited twice. After all, who wouldn't love this.

We loved the tartines here.

L'Épicerie de Ginette
25 Place des Corps Saints
84000 Avignon, France

And while I'm not sure how valuable this post will be now, I hope your meals are wonderful!

Paris - Dinner at Les Enfants Rouge (Again)

After taking a break from a fun day, we decided to head on out before dinner. The destination? One that we consider a must visit during the holiday season in Paris. We are always interested to see the Christmas window displays at Galeries Lafayette. This would the third holiday season we'd be in Paris, so we couldn't miss that, right?

We walked on over from the 3rd Arrondissement to the bright lights of Galeries Lafayette in full Holiday mode. We strolled around and took in the holiday window display.

Every year the display tells a story. The last time we were in Paris during the holiday season (pre-Covid, 2019) the theme was bees and the hive.

This time, the theme....well, we couldn't quite figure it out.

Can you figure out what the story is about?

After making it around to all the windows; it looked like something to do with outer space and aliens?

Later we'd return to Galeries Lafayette and get the full scoop on the story.....

From here we decided to walk to our dinner destination. Of course, this is Paris, so it was a stroll full of landmarks....

I had made reservations at a place we'd enjoyed previously. Les Enfants Rouge, located right around the corner from Marché des Enfants Rouges was a favorite of our from our previous trip. Yes, we'd been to several places of what we call the "Nikkei revolution" in Paris. Chefs from Japan who worked in the highest levels of French restaurants and eventually opened places of their own. We'd been honored and blessed to sample the dishes at places like ERH, Pertinence, and Alliance among others. But what we had enjoyed at Les Enfants Rouge was the unfussy dishes which leaned more toward Japanese cuisine in our opinion.

As before we strolled down the quiet side street and entered the neat and rather austere restaurant and was greeted by the very kind and professional hostess who led us to our table. As before we went with the three course menu for  75€ and one wine pairing.

And like before, we basically shared everything family style and the great service picked up on this and placed dishes in the middle with separate plates for us!

The Lamb Terrine was so very tasty, mildly gamey, and might I say, almost refreshing in  a way?

Loved the purple cabbage slaw and the shallot and parsley sauce, all of which went well with the terrine and the bread! The terrine was also perfectly seasoned with an soft texture which belied the look of a farmhouse style terrine.

The Duck Hearts were not as metallic-iron-ny as expected.

In terms of flavor, it was definitely savory and very "ducky" to the tenth power. The foam had a nice sweetness to it, helping to temper the flavor of the duck. We didn't care for the Roquefort Risotto which had some hard pieces and detracted from the overall flavor of the dish.

The Roasted Scallops were fabulous, perfectly cooked, still rare in the center, sweet, with a briny finish.

The seafood based "sauce" was very creamy, hints of savory shellfish, the mushrooms were earthy, with a mild sweetness to them.

And then the dish we were waiting for, the Tempura Fish. On our previous visit, it was the highlight of the meal. Make that "meals" as this again was amazing!

This time the fish was maigre, which I understand is croaker. The fish was coated in a light and crisp batter and was very moist. For us, it's that deeply savory, nori based "dashi" that is so deeply umami and really takes the mild flavored fish to a different level. 

There was one dessert that sounded interesting, the Baba with Toki Whiskey, a 10€ upcharge.

The typical looking Baba arrived at the table and then, no kidding, they brought a bottle of Toki out and proceeded to pour around two ounces of it over the Baba. We cracked up! Liked the whiskey, not quite sure about the "Rum Baba".

We both enjoyed the Lychee Mousse which wasn't overly sweet. And surprisingly the grapefruit supreme paired well with this!

This was another wonderful meal at Les Enfants Rouge. Great unpretentious service, great food, we can't wait to return. 

Les Enfants Rouges
9 Rue de Beauce
75003 Paris, France

Of course, this in itself presents another interesting issue of sorts. Over time, we've come up with some favorite places to eat. And it seems that it may be hard to try other places without sacrificing a visit to one of our favorites! 

Though looking at it another way, if that's the biggest issue we have with Paris; well that's a nice "problem" to have, right?

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

Dinners at EE Nami

Recently, the Missus and I restarted our "date nights". It seems that the combination of gas and food prices, Covid, and our travels kind of waylaid something that we'd always enjoyed. After returning from our trip "home", we decided to go ahead and slowly start dining out. Of course, the question arose...."where"? I was missing Japanese food, but for some reason, just did not feel like Yakitori or hanging at a sushi bar. After all my takeout meals from EE Nami over the last couple of years, I really wanted a shot at their dinner Izakaya menu. But first, I had to convince the Missus. You see the Missus usually hates Tonkatsu on the mainland, She will get Chicken Katsu, but Her experiences with pork have not been good, too tough, too dry, lacking in flavor. I'd been telling Her about my takeout meals from EE Nami but She just wouldn't try it. Finally, after showing Her the Dinner menu online, I managed to talk Her into visiting for dinner. And guess what? We've now been several times! Over the last couple of weeks!

I usually will make reservations; heck, I didn't even know EE Nami took reservations, for the 530 time slot, we'd eat early and get the heck out of dodge. The service has always been nice and friendly; there are touches that make us miss Japan.

Since we've made several visits and have pretty much reordered our favorite dishes over and over, I think I'll just do a listing of our picks and pans.

One thing to always take note of is the Specials menu.

And this menu has our favorite item on it; the Miyazaki A5 Wagyu Nigiri.

We ordered it on our initial visit and it was love at first bite; the unctuous, melt in your mouth tenderness of the beef, the rice cooked perfectly, the nice amount of pungency of the fresh grated wasabi. We ended up getting a second order! Since that time we always place two orders immediately. It will be a sad day when this isn't on the menu any longer!

Other Favorites:

Of course, the Missus ended up loving the Tonkatsu. And I noticed that the Fillet is much better dining in than doing takeout.

   It's very tender, moist, with a pleasant porkiness, the panko breading crisp and perfect. To us, the fillet is better than the loin when dining in. We usually don't order any rice or soup with this. As we want to keep on going!

The Missus really enjoys a good Agedashi Tofu and She loves this version.

This dish retains its light crispness for a good amount of time; the Missus enjoys the pretty strong dashi it's served in and also the addition of nori in the coating of the tofu. We noticed that many of the Izakaya dishes here have a larger portion size than what we're used to in Japan.

A favorite of mine is another item from the specials menu, the Ankimo with Smoked Takuan....actually, it's monk fish liver with smoked pickles on the menu. 

  I don't know who thought of this one, but to me it's a winnah! Love the creamy, rich, and mild liveriness of the Ankimo paired with the crunchy, smoky, pickled-sour daikon. And adding a bit of the shiso brought out even more complexity. As with the Wagyu Nigiri; I'll be sad when this is no longer on the specials menu.

Good Dishes:

The Gyu Tataki was pretty good.

While a bit on the chewy side, this had a nice beefiness which went well with the ponzu sauce and onions. Overall, a fairly refreshing dish.

The Tori Nanban was pretty large and unwieldy, especially with the tartar sauce dripping about.

This was another one of those dishes that we thought was kind of American-sized. The Missus, who is not usually a fan of Tori Nanban, thought this was pretty good. I on the other hand like tori nanban and though the batter was crisp, the pieces of chicken were too large with the biggest piece a bit on the dry side. The batter did stay crisp during the whole meal though and the chicken was well seasoned.

Plus/Minus:

The Buta Kakuni was a bit of an enigma.

The sauce was very tasty, though perhaps on the sweet side. The tamago was nicely cooked, with a lovely orb of an orange yolk. The daikon was tender and perfectly cooked, having absorbed the flavor from the sauce. The problem was the pork, which was really tough and stringy, and for some reason had really not absorbed enough of the flavor from the sauce.

Pans:

I'm not sure if it was an off day or what, but the Roasted Beef Tongue was not to our liking.

The tongue had a metallic flavor to it; the sauce was a strangely bland "onion sauce" when we think ponzu might have been a better match.

The worst dish we had was on our first visit. The Missus loves eggplant, so the Niku Miso Eggplant would seem like a good pick. It wasn't however.

The ground pork was gritty and dry, with no flavor. The eggplant was undercooked and also lacked flavor. There was supposed to be some kind of chili sauce on this? But it was MIA. Even with a sauce, the textures, and cooking techniques used here would have not been to our liking.

With that said, the dishes we enjoy here, we thoroughly enjoy. There's something about the vibe and our favorites here which allow us to travel with our tastebuds. At least on the slower nights we pick for our dinners.

Some good food, a nice vibe, all enjoyed with some craft, small production sake.......

And life is good! It seems we found a keeper for a casual date night spot.

EE Nami
4706 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117
Current Hours
Wed - Sun 1130am - 2pm, 530pm - 10pm 

Thanks for stopping by!

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.....

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!

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!

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!