Recipes

March 8, 2016 Europe

Trattoria della Posta in Monfort D'Alba Italy

This is the seventh post in the Around the World Birthday Extravaganza Series. Because there will be many, many posts in this series, please scroll to the bottom of the post to see all the other posts in this series.

Hello Monfort D'Alba!

A small, charming village on top of a hill, Monfort D'Alba is part of the Barolo wine-producing region. The town itself boasts phenomenal views of the surrounding vineyards, ancient medieval structures, and incredible food.

We stopped by this town for lunch at Trattoria della Posta, a historic bed and breakfast inn with a restaurant right inside. The restaurant began back in 1875 when Sabino Massolino, the current owner's great-grandfather, opened up a place for travelers and tourists to eat and stay....

March 2, 2016 Europe

G.D. Vajra Winery in Barolo, Italy

This is the sixth post in the Around the World Birthday Extravaganza Series. Because there will be many, many posts in this series, please scroll to the bottom of the post to see all the other posts in this series.

It was the second day of our two-day tour of the Piedmont region (and third day in Italy). After spending a half day exploring the International White Truffle Fair in Alba, we spent a foggy day exploring the Barbaresco region with our wine-expert tour guide, Robert Alexander from Langhe Travel.

Bright and early the next morning, Robert picked us up at our hotel and started driving towards Barolo.

The scenery was completely different from the day before.

All we could see was fog on our previous day in Barbaresco. Though we were able to take endless dreamy photos in diffuse light, we never really got to see anything more than a few feet away. Robert would tell us how great the view was from our restaurant, but we couldn't see anything beyond the fog.

We were so thankful when the sun came out the following day. Not a cloud in the sky! Finally! We could see for miles, and the views took our breath away. The Piedmont region is so beautiful....

February 28, 2016 Europe

Dinner at a Truffle Hunter's Inn - Tra Art e Querce

This is the fifth post in the Around the World Birthday Extravaganza Series. Because there will be many, many posts in this series, please scroll to the bottom of the post to see all the other posts in this series.

In the tiny village of Monchiero (population: 594), nestled between rolling hills and vineyards, lies a house. It's a farmhouse, in fact, converted into a quaint little bed and breakfast with just six rooms. Ezio and Clelia own the house and the beautiful, white truffle-filled, property surrounding it. Ezio, the husband, comes from a family of truffle hunters and is himself a highly regarded truffle hunter in the area. They train their own truffle dogs, sell truffles on the side, and run a restaurant right inside their inn.

The restaurant is called Tra Art e Querce, which means "between art and oak". The wife, Clelia Maria Vivalda, runs the restaurant and works with Chef Maurizio Regis to create all sorts of hyper-regional dishes that truly reflect the terroir of the area. The food is outstanding and pairs exceptionally well with white truffles.

This place, my friends, is truly a hidden find. So hidden, in fact, that we found ourselves the only guests the Monday evening following the last day of the truffle fair.

A good friend who travels to Italy extensively recommended this place to us, calling it a "must visit." We would have never known about it otherwise since it doesn't show up in American guidebooks. In fact, our tour guide Robert (who really seems to know everybody and everything in the Piedmont region), had never heard of this place. He was thrilled to discover it, and vowed to come back for more meals....

February 23, 2016 Las Vegas

New series! Winter in Las Vegas

Hello Vegas!

We start a new series today! Don't worry, this does not mean that the Around the World Extravaganza has ended. Far from it, in fact. I am not even one fifth of the way through that series. However, I thought I would start running this (much shorter) series in parallel, as well as throw in a few Boston restaurants here and there.

Every January for the past eight (!) years Bryan and I have gone to Las Vegas to attend the Consumer Electronics Show (this is why the Las Vegas portion of this blog is actually quite solid). It's a fun a crazy time where we check out all the latest electronics, listen to audio systems that cost more than a condo in Boston, visit friends, and enjoy the great food (and shows!) that Las Vegas offers.

This year, we even got to enjoy a stunning hike at a nearby rock formation just 45 minutes outside of Las Vegas.

Here's a brief summary of our Las Vegas trip, to be covered in much more detail in upcoming posts!...

February 19, 2016 Back Bay

Strip by Strega Boston

It has been a long time since Bryan and I have eaten at a steakhouse in Boston together. Ever since we moved to our townhouse in Cambridge (which, most importantly, came with a tiny yard where Bryan could put a kick-ass grill), we haven't felt the need to have steak at a restaurant.

After all, the steaks we make at home are really, really good. We purchase high quality meat, and we have this system down. I prep and season the meat; Bryan grills it. It's a bit silly, but neither of us actually knows how to do the other person's job. We need each other to make the perfect steak.

Unless if we are in another state (or a country known for steak), we never eat at steakhouses together. More often than not, we find that the steaks we eat at restaurants just aren't as good as the ones we make at home.

But then one day the folks at Strip by STREGA reached out to me and invited me to try a meal. Bryan had read some very positive reviews online about the place, so he was actually intrigued and wanted to visit. On a cold January evening, we bundled up and headed into downtown Boston to enjoy our first Boston steakhouse experience in a very long time.
...

February 16, 2016 Europe

Lunch at Donna Selvatica Italy (Neive, Italy)

This is the fourth post in the Around the World Birthday Extravaganza Series. Because there will be many, many posts in this series, I will list all other posts from this series at the bottom of the post.

Donna Selvatica is a new, upscale Italian restaurant that recently opened in the tiny village of Neive. We came here for lunch on the first day of our private wine tour after visiting Barbaresco in the morning. It has stunning views of the surrounding vineyards, which you can enjoy from its outdoor patio.

Unfortunately for us, it was so foggy that day we couldn't see more than 20 feet outside the window. Our tour guide Robert had to show us the photos of what the view normally looks like.

But really, it wasn't that bad at all.

I mean, we had to settle for this view instead.

The old village of Neive is still beautiful to look at, even if it's the only thing we could see through the window. Furthermore, this particular table was in a private area set away from the rest of the dining area. It's a wonderful location for an intimate date or a business meeting.

Of course, the view can't be the only reason to visit a restaurant. Food is of utmost importance, and Donna Selvatica firmly delivers in that aspect. Bryan had said before we arrived in Italy that he wanted to enjoy white Alba truffles at every single meal while in Alba.

Well, that was not hard to achieve at Donna Selvatica (heh, see photo above).

Furthermore, Donna Selvatica serves many classic Piemontese dishes, interpreted and executed through the elegant and sophisticated style of head Chef Gabriele, who has combined his culinary training with old world influences from his upbringing (e.g., his grandmother, among others)....

February 13, 2016 Europe

Italy Wine Tour - Barbaresco

This is the third post in the Around the World Birthday Extravaganza Series. Because there will be many, many posts in this series, I will list all other posts from this series at the bottom of the post.

Wine, wine, wine.

To be honest, when I first chose Alba, Italy as a destination for my Around the World birthday trip, I really didn't have wine on my mind. My thoughts were laser-focused on one thing only: white truffles. However, as I began to research the area, I realized that the Piedmont region - more specifically the Langhe part of the Piedmont region - was very well known for wine, including Barolo, Barbaresco, and many other varieties.

Although we are relatively familiar with American wines (having visited Napa and Sonoma numerous times), we knew embarrassingly little about Italian wines. At most, we were familiar with Chianti, and had sampled various Nebbiolo grape wines (e.g., Barolo, Barbaresco) at Italian restaurants in Boston. However, that was really the limit of our knowledge.

We decided to take a two-day private tour of the region with Travel Langhe, a travel company run by an American husband-and-wife duo (Robert and Leslie Alexander) who have lived in Italy for over 1o years. We were drawn to them for several reasons. First, both Robert and Leslie are trained sommeliers and were deeply involved in the food and wine industry before moving to Italy. They really understand and appreciate good food and wine. Additionally, Leslie is a trained chef, and also offers cooking classes as part of the tour. They are fluent in Italian and well connected to the local people of the area.

Finally, it's a huge bonus that Robert is a serious photographer and offers photography-focused tours. In fact, the moment Robert saw our cameras (yes! we were Canon brethren!), we all hit it off immediately. We shared thoughts and ideas about our photography workflows, challenges with photography when blogging, and even borrowed each others' lenses and equipment during the two days.

It's really, really nice to have a good photographer on your trip. You can finally get good pictures of you and your travel companion together (versus trusting that strangers on the street will snap a decent photo of you!).

Robert swung by our hotel right at 9AM on the first day of our tour. He immediately greeted the owner of our hotel (in Italian, of course) and they quickly invited him in for some breakfast. It did not take long before we started to realize that Robert seemed to know everyone in the area. The Langhe region is really, really small, and everybody knows everybody else. After finishing breakfast, we hopped into Robert's car and proceeded through rolling, foggy hills towards the village of Barbareso, our first stop of the day....

February 10, 2016 Europe

Osteria Dei Sognatori - A Traditional Piemontese Dinner

This is the second post in the Around the World Birthday Extravaganza Series. Because there will be many, many posts in this series, I will list all other posts from this series at the bottom of the post.

We were in somewhat of a pickle.

We had emailed our hotel/B&B far in advance, thinking we had lined up all of our dinner reservations in Alba. It wasn't until we arrived that we found out there had been a slight misunderstanding. Our hosts at the B&B had emailed restaurants requesting reservations, but nothing had been confirmed.

It turns out we had zero dinner reservations in hand.

After a flurry of phone calls, we were able to secure reservations at two of the restaurants we had originally planned on visiting. Unfortunately, a third one was completely booked solid during our visit.

So where to go on our extra "free" night?

The owner of the B&B said, "there is this place in downtown Alba that is very traditional."

"They do not take reservations, and you have to line up, but the food is very good. There are hardly any restaurants in this area that serve food this way anymore. There is no menu. You just show up, and they feed you what they are cooking that day."

"It is very, very popular with the locals."

Sold.
...

February 5, 2016 Europe

Alba White Truffle Fair (Alba White Truffle Festival)

This is the first post in the Around the World Birthday Extravaganza Series. Because there will be many, many posts in this series, I will list all other posts from this series at the bottom of the post.

Alba.

It is a place that I have dreamt about visiting for years.

I am a huge white truffle fan, and Alba, Italy is the home of the white truffle. I take full advantage of the fact that my November birthday allows me to occasionally indulge in this luxurious treat as a way to celebrate. So yes, I've had white truffles here and there, but I always wondered what it would be like to visit Alba, the home of the white truffle.

White truffles are unique because they can't be cultivated. There's something magical about the soil, the climate, elevation, and general conditions around Alba that make it one of the only places in the world where white truffles will grow. They grow near the roots of trees in the damp Piedmontese forests, and it takes specially trained dogs to find them.

Truffles only grow for a few months out of the year, starting around September until around December. Furthermore, they don't keep, so you have to eat them fresh.

My goal was to visit Alba during this special season. I especially wanted to visit the Alba White Truffle Fair, a weekend fair that goes on for six weeks during truffle season.

We barely made it, arriving in Milan International Airport on Saturday, November 14th, the absolutely last weekend of the Truffle Fair. After a 2+ hour drive to Alba city center and then a short drive up a mountain, we arrived at our lovely, lovely hotel....

February 3, 2016 Boston

Trade Boston (Jody Adams)

Where shall we meet for lunch?

Just over two years ago, my job moved out to Boston's Seaport area. I was thrilled to have the views of the ocean, the airport, and access to downtown Boston. It was a whole new world of restaurants to explore! One place that soon became a favorite for my networking lunches was Trade, a restaurant inspired by Chef-owner Jody Adams' travels to the Mediterranean regions of the world.

Bryan and I have been fans of Chef Jody Adams for years. We live only about a 10-minute walk away from Rialto, her flagship restaurant in Harvard Square. We've enjoyed many dinners there, both in the main dining, in the lovely outdoor patio, and at the bar.

Trade is located close to the Seaport area and South Station. The surrounding neighborhood is filled with restaurants, luxury hotels, and high rise office buildings. It's open for lunch and dinner, and is a very popular lunch spot for all the businesses in the area....

January 29, 2016 Appetizer

Butternut Squash Crab Soup + Giveaway!

I am pleased to partner with Louis Kemp Crab Delights® for this sponsored post

"That soup, that soup is amazing. It's better than what most restaurants make. You could open a restaurant with that soup."

These are pretty powerful words, considering that they came from one of my most critical, food-obsessed friends. This is a friend who has traveled the world, eaten at multiple Michelin-starred restaurants in France and the U.S., and is always on top of the food scene in Boston.

The comment was made at a New Years party several years back. We were doing a potluck of sorts. My friend assigned each guest a particular dish to bring, which he then paired with a specially chosen wine.

My soup, inspired by something I had tried at the now-defunct Upstairs on the Square, took a simple blended butternut squash soup and elevated it by adding crabmeat and mushroom essence. We paired the final product with a beautiful champagne (Krug!) and it was divine.

It's a gorgeously elegant and luxurious soup.

But guess what? It's also very, very easy to make.

I've scaled the same soup and served it as a butternut squash crab "shooter" (or amuse bouche?) to fifty guests at my company's Thanksgiving potluck last year. I love how simple and scaleable this soup is.

After all, it involves just a few ingredients....

January 27, 2016 Recipe

Grilled Bok Choy (+ our crazy New Years Day meal)

Bryan has a very strict rule when it comes to entertaining: never experiment on your guests. If you haven't validated a recipe, don't try it for the first time on your poor, unsuspecting guests.

We broke that rule this past New Years Day.

One of our friends had decided to host a crazy wine tasting dinner (he was busting out some pretty fine wines from his personal collection), and he asked whether we could hold the party at our house. He would take care of picking up the meat (oh, just some dry-aged steaks and a whole paleta iberico leg (!)). Another friend would bring a suckling pig.

We were just in charge of the vegetables.

There was no question I would make my signature Taiwanese Grilled Corn. I also tossed together a simple Japanese cucumber salad and made a tasty butternut squash crab soup (recipe coming soon!). Finally, I planned to roast bok choy in the oven, a method I had developed a few months back after being inspired by the delicious deep fried bok choy from Alden & Harlow (yes, crispy bok choy leaves are awesome).

On a whim (so out of character!), Bryan agreed to try grilling our bok choy instead.

It wasn't a completely wild experiment. We had tasted grilled bok choy at various restaurants throughout Boston (most notably at La Brasa and Shepard), and knew we loved the charred, flavorful leaves that resulted.

The experiment was a resounding success! It was so good, I couldn't stop stealing bites before the guests arrived (heh heh).

Tutorial below!
...

January 22, 2016 Boston

Little Big Diner Newton - a first look!

There's something about good ramen that makes Bostonians a little crazy and very willing to wait in long lines to obtain it. Yume Wo Katare, the Jiro-style tiny ramen shop in Porter Square was infamous for its lines.

When Mu Ramen from New York popped up at Alden & Harlow for just one night, people swarmed the place, overwhelming the kitchen to the point that it took three hours for people to receive their coveted ramen. Tickets to Guchi's Midnight Ramen and Oisa Ramen regularly sell out within minutes.

There is such a larger demand compared to supply for good ramen here in Boston.

Less than two weeks ago (on January 9th, to be precise), Little Big Diner opened in Newton.

It's understandable why there's so much hype around Little Big Diner. It's the second restaurant for David Punch, chef-owner of the very popular (and excellent) restaurant Sycamore in Newton. For this "East Asian soul food" concept, Chef Punch is partnering with Chef Daniel Scott (former Sycamore sous chef) to serve bold and flavorful comfort food influenced by Japan, Korea, China, and Thailand (just to name a few).

Ramen is heavily featured on the menu, which adds to the hype.

People know Sycamore's reputation for good food. I personally know Chef Punch is obsessed with ramen, noodles, and Asian food in general (he keeps telling me I have to try Uncle Boon's, a Thai restaurant in New York). Chef Punch says Chef Daniel Scott makes a mean kimchi and draws a lot from his Korean background (especially from his mom, who is an incredible cook).

We knew the lines would be long. In fact, we heard they were crazy long. Chef Punch would later tell us that for one week straight, they had a 2-hour deep line out the door for the entire time the restaurant was open (11AM - 11PM). The staff worked continuously with no breaks. They were putting in 18-hour days.

We arrived at 11AM (right at opening) for the first seating. They had pushed opening time to 11:30AM, but let us wait inside (it was cold and snowing out there!). The chefs looked exhausted. Chef Punch was doing tai chi off to the corner in preparation for the next day's service. Cans of Red Bull were present.

"We've decided to open at 11:30AM instead, and take a break between 2PM - 5PM. It was just a bit too crazy."

At 11:30AM we sat down and perused the menu. Within minutes, we put in orders for some appetizers and several bowls of steaming ramen. ...

January 18, 2016 Michelin

Momofuku Ko

This is the third and final post in the 2015 New York series. Other posts in this series include Marta New York and Xi'an Famous Foods.

For years, it was not that easy to know what the food at Momofuku Ko, one of David Chang's flagship restaurants, really looked like. While the rest of the food world went gaga posting their restaurant photos onto social media, Momofuku diners were denied such a privilege. No food photos were allowed.

In order to experience the exclusive menu, you had to go and taste it yourself. None of this vicarious-eating through other people.

I visited that original Momofuku Ko back in 2011. The space and ambiance felt more like a casual ramen bar than a high-end restaurant serving a $100+ tasting menu full of innovation and creative flavors.

Despite the casual environment, people flocked to get a taste of David Chang's edgy and unique dishes. Landing a reservation involved setting up an account on the Momofuku website, sitting at the computer right when new reservations opened (10AM), and grabbing the first available seat immediately.

The hype surrounding David Chang's restaurants has not really subsided. However, he has finally expanded Momofuku Ko so that it fits a lot more people in a much more comfortable space.

It's still counter-style seating. Now, however, the counter has expanded into a U-shape that wraps around the entire kitchen. There are also a few tables for larger parties (which you can reserve beforehand). Near the entrance, there is an actual bar where you can grab seats without a reservation and order drinks plus a few a la carte items.

The restaurant is surrounded by floor to ceiling refrigerators filled with various things that are curing, aging, or just being stored. It's fun to go around and just explore everything that's behind those see-through doors.

For diners in the main central area, there is just one tasting menu: a 20+ course meal for $195 (was $175 in 2015). Courses change frequently, and the menu changes everyday.

Here's a look at our meal!
...

January 15, 2016 New York

Xi'an Famous Foods New York

This is the second post in the 2015 New York series. Other posts in this series include Marta New York.

There was a time not too long ago when most Americans had no idea what Xi'an cuisine was like.

I was one of those people.

I first discovered the cuisine of the Shaanxi region of China in 2o11 when Bryan and I visited the city of Xi'an to see the world famous terra cotta warriors. Though food was not the main purpose for that excursion, we soon discovered a whole new cuisine that we had never tasted before.

Food from our trip to Xi'an

Imagine: crazy wide, flat noodles tossed in a spicy, garlicky chili oil sauce; a hearty lamb stew where you broke up pieces of dry bread by hand yourself to eat with the stew. Our time there was short (less than 48 hours), and thus we only had limited to explore the fascinating cuisine.

Little did I know that about six years earlier, a bubble tea shop owner in Flushing, New York had started selling food from Xi'an, his homeland, on the side for fun. Pretty soon, the dishes began selling better than the bubble tea. The family opened the first location of Xi'an Famous Foods in 2005....

January 13, 2016 Boston

Happy New Year! Part III - Best New Boston Restaurants 2015

This is the third post in the mini-series where I reflect on my favorite restaurant discoveries in 2015. The other two posts in this series include the the following: Happy New Year, A Look Back at 2015, Part I where I reflect on the unique year I had traveling more than usual because I wasn't working a corporate 9-5 job; and Around the World Birthday Extravaganza Trip, which summarizes the amazing trip I just took at the end of 2015 (mid-November to early December)

Wow. What a year it's been for Boston restaurants!

Sometimes I forget how good we have it now. Even as I look back on 2015, I'm surprised at how many really good restaurants appeared just within the past year.

The restaurant scene has seriously exploded in both Boston and Cambridge (and even in the burbs!). Kendall Square especially is a whole new ball game now when it comes to food (especially compared to when I was in college, or even just 5 years ago). There are so many good restaurants, so many new chefs carrying out their dreams, it's quite exciting.

Below are a list of my personal favorite new restaurants from 2015. Definitely check some of these out!...

January 6, 2016 Around the World Trip Report

New Series! Around the World Birthday Extravaganza Trip

Happy New Year!

This is a continuation of my post reflecting on 2015, A Look Back at 2015, Part I. This is Part II, and essentially is a very condensed summary of my three week around-the-world trip. It's hard to fit three weeks worth of content in a reasonably-sized blog post, but I'll try my best!

Bryan had seen a sale for "around-the-world" tickets on American Airlines over six months ago. At the time, we had toyed around with the idea of planning a big trip in celebration of my milestone birthday. Since I'm one of those people who can never commit to anything, Bryan went ahead and booked a general itinerary which included Alba (I've always wanted to go to Alba during the White Truffle Fair in November), Bordeaux (a trip we've been meaning to take with friends for years now), Paris (beautiful & romantic + the food!), Japan (my favorite!), and Hong Kong (one of Bryan's favorite cities in Asia).

I promise I will write about all these places in much more detail in the upcoming months (yes, I actually believe it will take that long to cover everything). Of course, I will intersperse those travel posts with Boston restaurant posts and some cooking posts as well.

For now, here's a preview of how we spent our time from mid-November to early December!
...

January 5, 2016 Boston

Happy New Year! A Look Back at 2015 - Part I

Happy 2016!

Time flies! This has been the most unusual year for me. After working full time in a traditional corporation ever since I was 22 (basically, right out of college), I left the corporate 9-5 world and became an independent legal consultant this past year. I set up my own business, set my own hours, and consulted for a small pharmaceutical company in Cambridge.

I loved having such a flexible schedule!

I spent a lot more time on photography and blog related activities. I got to spend a lot more time with out-of-town friends. I even learned a lot through my work, talking to scientists about cool nanoparticle drug delivery systems and studying the ins and outs of setting up my own business.

Best part? I got to travel a lot more with Bryan on his business trips.

It's definitely been quite a ride.

A few months ago, I was given the incredible opportunity to join an exciting start up company in Cambridge. It was a hard decision, but I took the plunge and now I'm back to normal full-time work again. I'm actually having tons of fun at my new job - it's been a blast so far!

Anyway, it's been quite an exciting year. Here's a look back at 2015 . . .

Enjoy!...

December 30, 2015 New York

Marta New York

This is the first post in the 2015 New York series.

I have very fond memories of Rome.

Bryan and I first visited the city in 2001, the first stop of our extended honeymoon in Italy. We were wowed by the numerous ancient buildings, inexpensive but delicious food (the country was still on the lira currency back then!), and friendly people. It took us over 10 years to visit again, a short weekend trip after one of my European business trips. On that second trip, we focused a lot more on the food. We researched heavily before we went, and visited some fantastic restaurants.

One especially fond memory related to the pizza. Although Rome is not as known for its pizza as Naples, the pizza there is still unique and very, very tasty.

pizza from dal Paino in Rome

We especially loved the light and crispy - super thin crust on the Roman pizzas. It was almost like a cracker topped with gorgeously flavored toppings. In the U.S., we soon discovered that most restaurants aim for Neapolitan-style pizzas, which have a thicker, chewier, breadier crust. Though we loved the many excellent authentic pies we found in the U.S., we still missed the uber-thin crusts that we experienced in Rome.

This is why we were so excited when we heard about Marta, a new Roman-style pizzeria in New York from Danny Myers' Union Square Hospitality Group. ...

December 28, 2015 New York

Merry Belated Christmas (+ new series on New York City!)

Merry Christmas!

It's been a whirlwind of a couple weeks here. Again, really sorry for being so silent on the blog lately. After recovering from jetlag and catching up on work, Bryan and I hopped right back on a plane to Southern California to visit his parents for the holidays. For the first time ever, it was actually *colder* in Orange County than it was back home in Boston, where our friends enjoyed spring-like weather on Christmas Day.
We spent a crowded but super fun-filled day at Disneyland, maximizing the day by showing up right at 8AM (opening!) and leaving at midnight when the park closed. It was so fun to see all the new Star Wars stuff, like the new Force Awakens ending on the Star Tours ride and brand new Stars Wars exhibits.

We revisited our favorite rides too, limiting wait times with Fast Passes and strategic use of single rider lines (best thing ever! - we saved over 2 hours on certain rides!).

Bryan's mom cooked a ton of foods that have become tradition for the holidays: turkey dinner (since we weren't home on Thanksgiving), the family CHE pumpkin cakes, and hot pot.

I am finally back in Boston, hanging out with my side of the family. I have so much to share with you from my around-the-world trip, which I hope to begin sometime in mid-January. Before that, I'll finish off 2015 with a short series on New York City!

Here is a quick preview!
...

December 15, 2015 California

Saison

This is the tenth and final post in the West Coast! A Week in San Francisco and Sonoma Series. Other posts in this series include Sonoma Starlight at Francis Ford Coppola Winery, Sonoma Wine Country Weekend - Taste of Sonoma 2015, Glen Ellen Star Sonoma, and Sante Restaurant at the Fairmont Mission Inn & Spa, Russian River Brewing Company, Kin Khao Thai Eatery, Exploring San Francisco's Ferry Building Marketplace, Burma Superstar, and Quince.

A near perfect dining experience requires a lot of things.

First and foremost, the food obviously has to be very, very good - enough to surprise you multiple times throughout the meal with thoughts of "wow, this is phenomenal." There really shouldn't be any complete "misses". You should enjoy the flavors, the textures, and the overall sequences of the dishes. Execution should be near flawless.

But there is so much more to a very good dining experience than just the food. Ideally, the diner feels like a special guest. Service runs smoothly, and never at any point in the night does the diner feel bored, hungry, or restless.

Ambiance is important. I personally like to feel comfortable and relaxed. Environments that are "stuffy" and overly formal make me feel on edge, afraid that I might do something improper. For me, noise level also makes a huge difference. I like to be able to talk to my dining companions without having to whisper or shout.

It is very, very difficult for a restaurant to execute that perfect dining experience. Even if the food reaches that "wow" level, usually there are some courses that are mediocre or even an occasional miss. Service can vary a lot, and I often find myself waiting too long between courses.

But occasionally, there will be that near-perfect meal.

Bryan and I were in San Francisco on our 14th (!) wedding anniversary. I decided to take the plunge and book Saison for dinner on the actual night of our anniversary.

I was blown away, and it has since quickly become one of my favorite high-end restaurants in the United States....

November 30, 2015 Bordeaux

Greetings from Europe and Asia!

I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday!

So sorry I haven't been posting as much. I have been traveling for two weeks straight throughout Europe and Asia. I thought I would be able to catch up on blogging during my flights in between my trips. Who would have thought that jetlag would totally consume me, and I would end up sleeping most of my flights.

So for now, I've compiled a few of my Instagram posts to give you a sense of what I've been up to. Please feel free to check out the entire feed (also available on Twitter and Facebook), if you want to see more details about my trip so far. Of course, I will follow up with very detailed posts about everything in the next several months to come.

Enjoy!...

November 24, 2015 Boston

Alive and Kicking Lobster

I am embarrassed to say that I lived within a 15-minute walk from this place for ten years and never once tried it.

Oh sure, I had intended to visit Alive and Kicking Lobster, a small seafood shack tucked away in a residential part of Cambridgeport. I'd heard great things about it, and I even knew a local (and respected) restaurant that sourced seafood from the place.

Oddly enough, it wouldn't be until I actually moved away from the neighborhood that I would visit. And that is all because of my food-obsessed coworkers at my new job, who invited me to walk over on an unseasonably warm day in the middle of November.

I was thrilled to find out that our offices are only a two-minute walk away.
...

November 18, 2015 Europe

Thanksgiving & Birthday Reflections + Giveaway!

This post is sponsored by O.N.E. Coconut Water
Hiking through the vineyards in Barolo wine country

Greetings from Alba, Italy!

Bryan and I are traveling on a mega three week around-the-world trip in celebration of a milestone birthday (it's actually my birthday today!).

...

November 15, 2015 California

Quince San Francisco

This is the ninth post in the West Coast! A Week in San Francisco and Sonoma Series. Other posts in this series include Sonoma Starlight at Francis Ford Coppola Winery, Sonoma Wine Country Weekend - Taste of Sonoma 2015, Glen Ellen Star Sonoma, Sante Restaurant at the Fairmont Mission Inn & Spa, Russian River Brewing Company, Kin Khao Thai Eatery, Exploring San Francisco's Ferry Building Marketplace, and Burma Superstar.

Quince is a place that's perfect for that really special, celebratory meal.

The restaurant has won numerous awards and has been honored in numbers of "top restaurants" lists. It is one of nine restaurants in the Bay area to receive four stars from the San Francisco Chronicle. It has two coveted Michelin Stars. It is also frequently named in a variety of lists, such as The Daily Meal's "101 Best Restaurants in America" or Black Ink Magazines's "100 Top Restaurants in the World."

Owners Michael and Lindsay Tusk recently closed the restaurant for two months to remodel the space. Inspired by their travels to Japan, they incorporated Japanese-style dark wood partitions. The main dining room is now lit by an impressive, 250-pound glass chandelier. A huge flower arrangement in the center adds additional flair and elegance. Columnist Michael Bauer from the San Francisco Chronicle even asserted that the dining space is the most elegant one in the Bay area, if not the entire U.S.

It's easy to see why we were curious about this place. We finally booked a dinner at Quince during the week of our wedding anniversary....

November 11, 2015 Boston

Tasting Counter Somerville

I am so excited about this place.

Welcome to Tasting Counter, Boston's first tasting menu "ticketed" restaurant from Chef Peter Ungár (Aujourd'hui, Michelin-starred Le Grand Véfour and Le Céladon in France).

It's been two long years. I first met Chef Peter Ungár in 2013 when I experienced an incredible tasting menu right inside his home. It reminded me of those underground, "closed-door" restaurants that are so popular in New York (and Argentina, interestingly enough) right now. At the time, Chef Ungár was just starting to plan and test potential dishes and menus for his future restaurant. Even then, I was amazed at the level of food he could produce right out of his own kitchen.

It was seriously quite impressive.

Since then, Chef Ungár has been searching for just the right space.

That space finally turned out to be a unique spot inside Aeronaut Brewing Company's building (a cool space also leased out to other small local businesses). Once Chef Ungár secured the spot, he began constructing the restaurant to look just like what he had envisioned - a place where all diners would sit at counter seats, watching the chefs cook right in front of their eyes.

There are obvious benefits to counter seating. Diners get to watch chefs prepare dishes right before their eyes. Chefs are able to serve food the moment the dish is done. Diners taste the food at its freshest, its best.

We finally visited Tasting Counter for Bryan's birthday in October. ...

November 9, 2015 Misc

Staying Healthy Amidst a Crazy Year of Travel + $100 Giveaway!

I can't believe it, but it's already November. With daylight savings gone, the way-too-early sunsets solidly indicate the arrival of fall. Another academic year beginning, another summer that came and went by way too quickly. Another foreboding look into another winter that we really hope won't be as bad at our record-breaking snow dump last year.

This past year has been, by far, the most crazy, unpredictable, and all-around different year in a long time. Part of it came from the flexibility of my job. For the first time in my entire working life, I switched from working as an employee in a corporation to being a consultant who worked for myself. With this new change came great responsibility (there's a lot of stuff that comes with running your own business!) but also great flexibility.

With Bryan traveling so much for work, I took advantage of my flexible schedule to travel a bit more with him this past year.
In September of 2014, after a reasonably quiet summer where we stayed mostly local, I joined Bryan on a fascinating two-week trip to Malaysia and Singapore. I had a ton of fun taking cooking classes (check out all the scrumptious recipes here), hiking in the tropical wilderness, and eating all sorts of amazing food.
In November, we signed up to get SCUBA certified, doing our final certification dives in Hawaii. It was our first time visiting all the islands, and we had a blast exploring the scenery in Maui, swimming with the turtles in Kauai, diving with Manta rays in the Big Island, and doing the most difficult (and one of the most beautiful) hikes in my life.
After a warm Christmas in Los Angeles with Bryan's family, we headed off to Las Vegas for our annual trip to attend the Consumer Electronics Show. We tried a lot of steak and enjoyed a meal at a fun Japanese izakaya. Then the dreaded winter of 2015 hit us. Snow and lots of shoveling took over our lives.

Traveling went way down. I bravely flew to Philadelphia in mid-February to give a workshop at an ITASA conference, only to have to reschedule my flight to get back to Boston before yet another snowstorm would hit. Before you knew it, April was here and the snow was finally (mostly) melted. We whisked off to Orlando (Bryan had a conference there), and had fun in the sun again at the Happiest Place on Earth. Can you tell I'm trying to go to warm places? In June we visited London and Munich, trying a ton of fancy Michelin-starred restaurants in London and famous beer houses in Munich. In July, we spent a long weekend in Montreal, checking out the annual jazz festival and enjoying lots of delicious food. A trip to New York, and Napa/Sonoma Valley followed to finally bring us to October. Full circle. It's most certainly been the most crazy, unpredictable, and all-around different year I've ever had. I've had very little routine these past 12 months. And it's hard to stay healthy and to stick with any sort of good habits when traveling so much. So what is one thing I been doing to stay healthy amidst such a crazy and unstructured schedule? Answer in this video that I made (with BlogHer's help)!

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Update!
I have recently accepted a full-time position at a new and exciting venture-backed startup in Cambridge as head of intellectual property. It was a fun ride of a year being a consultant, but I'm ready to "settle down" and embark upon a new adventure!

I received free product and payment for this sponsored post. All opinions are 100% mine.

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This is the second post in the West Coast! A Week in San Francisco and Sonoma Series. Other posts in this series include the first event of Sonoma County Wine Weekend: Sonoma Starlight at Francis Ford Coppola Winery.

Where else can you get the most comprehensive tasting of Sonoma wines all in one place in a single afternoon?

Welcome to the Taste of Sonoma.

Every year on Labor Day weekend, Sonoma throws a huge weekend-long fundraising wine even called Sonoma Wine Country Weekend. It is a phenomenal weekend filled with various food and wine events, all focused on local producers from Sonoma County. All proceeds go towards a variety of community charities and local community services.

We first came two years ago and totally fell in love with the wine, the food, and the entire region.

The Taste of Sonoma is the main event that occurs on Saturday, starting at 11AM and ending at 4PM.

It's located at MacMurray Estate Vineyards, a gorgeous space in Healdsburg (pretty far north in Sonoma County!) that's only open once a year to the public for this huge event.

Over 200 wineries from Sonoma County participate in this event, and most wineries bring several bottles to share, resulting in 700+ different wines you could theoretically try. It's quite mind-blowing, really.

Once you get inside, enter the MacMurray Ranch house to learn a bit more about the terroir of the different Sonoma landscapes.

Sniff various jars filled with elements of each region's terroir.

A fun place to start is the Bubble Lounge sponsored by Gloria Ferrer, one of the most prominent sparkling wine producers in the region. Sample some freshly shucked West Coast oysters paired with bubblies.

Tents are separated by regions (e.g., Sonoma Coast, Russian River Valley, Sonoma Valley, etc) and wine types. Inside each tent, food and wine tables are strategically placed next to each other, often to form good pairings.

The previous year had been sweltering hot, so this year many food stations were serving cold, refreshing dishes, like gazpacho, cucumber soup, and other cold dishes.

Bryan couldn't resist the Mac & Cheese "Lollipops" and I love a good, fresh tomato gazpacho, especially in the peak of tomato season!

Cheese sampling!

I also really enjoyed tasty paella from these huge pans!

There are all sorts of fun small bites, like the heirloom tomato salad on the left and the sweet corn bisque pictured at right.

One of my favorite desserts was this liquid nitrogen ice cream from Sub Zero Ice Cream made right on the spot. It was incredibly creamy yet light at the same time. It was really, really good!

There are several smaller events that occur during the event, like a Blind Taste Challenge, Sensory Exploration of Sustainable Wine, and other fun workshops. You purchase tickets for these events separately.

We spent most of our time in the Grand Reserve Tent. Grand Reserve ticket holders (who pay an additional $30 on top of the $165 entrance price) are entitled to taste wines at Club Reserve, where wineries pour their limited production, reserve, and award winning wines.

There are three one-hour "sessions." Each session features a different set of ~ 15 wineries. That means, within a span of 3-4 hours, you can sample top reserve wines from over 45 different wineries.

The wines were excellent, and we discovered some new favorites, like Three Sticks and Cenyth, as well as some favorites we had discovered the last time we were there, like Pride Mountain Vineyards and Soujourn. We were bummed that some of our other favorites from last time, Kamen Estate Winery and Peter Michael, were not present this time.

The Reserve Tent only has one food station, though the dishes are a bit fancier, like the Porcini Mushroom and Lobster Risotto that Chef Adolfo Veronese from Aventine Glen Ellen is preparing.

These delicate bites also came from the Reserve Tent.

We learned you can buy pre-cut eggs from chickens who have been bred to lay extremely durable shells.

Near the end, when we were stuffed from all the food sampling and pretty much done with wine, we checked out the Marketplace, which includes various ice cream, coffee, and snack vendors. We fell in love with this nitro cold brew from Petaluma Coffee, which was made with beans that had been aged in rye whiskey barrels for two weeks! The resultant flavor was phenomenal. In fact, we went back to the coffee shop the next morning (our hotel was in Petaluma, so it was very convenient!), and got some for the road. We also bought two bags of the rye whiskey aged beans to take back to Boston with us.

Just like two years ago, we had a great time at the event. I would highly recommend coming if you're visiting Sonoma over Labor Day weekend.

The grounds are gorgeous, the food is excellent, and the selection of great wines is hard to beat. It's also a great way to really get to know Sonoma area wines, which are very good. I'm personally a huge Pinot Noir fan, and the climate in this area is perfect for that type of wine.

After the event, we drove around the area, soaking in the gorgeous landscape. We ended up exploring the tiny town of Occidental before heading to Glen Ellen for dinner.

Disclaimer - I received press passes to this event and thus did not pay for the tickets. All opinions are my own.