My pre-trip plan for dining at popular restaurants had been to try and go early (8 pm) to beat the local crowds who dine closer to 10 pm. Of course, this strategy didn't really work yesterday since we were on the bike tour til 8 pm, stopped for a fortifying post-ride gelato and needed a little horizontal rest on a couch afterwards.
So it was just after 10 pm by the time we headed down the street to a well-reviewed tapas bar near our apartment. And it was packed. With people standing around outside the front, all milling about. It didn't look promising.
We saw another restaurant down the street and wandered over to check it out. It turned out to be a Thai restaurant, called Thai Garden, with a very persuasive Thai lady out front who talked us into dining there.
The food was all pretty good - I asked her to make sure it was authentic. The restaurant was gorgeous inside, much higher end than it had seemed from the outside. And it was pretty full with locals. The prices were definitely high - the most egregious was 4 euro 30 cents for a serving of jasmine rice. You could buy multiple sacks of rice at that price in Thailand!
It turned out to be a very enjoyable meal. I think one of our family goals may be to try a Thai restaurant in all the big cities we visit!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Biking through Barcelona
In a flash of brilliance last month, I decided that on our first day in Barcelona, we were going to do a family bike tour since all four of us have now had extensive bike riding experience. So after an all-too-short rest in the afternoon, we readied ourselves for the 4:30 pm tour.It turns out that there are 3 or 4 different companies that offer bike tours here - we ended up picking Barcelona Ciclo Tour, primarily because they departed from Plaza Catalunya, which was right next to our apartment.
Fortunately, they had a bike just my younger daughter's size (8 yr old) so we were all set. We were on a tour with 12 others, 8 of whom were American. The tour was billed as being appropriate for all ages. I have to admit that my little one was quite wiped by the end (there was a bit of an uphill stretch) - but overall, she did wonderfully well.
We rode all around Barcelona, spending a good part of the time on pedestrian-only streets. We biked for about 90 minutes, then stopped at a beachside cafe for a drink and a rest. Then biked on for another hour or so - it was great way to get an overview of the city, since we went by all the major sights. It was also relaxing. Well, it was until we spent a few miles on congested city streets in the evening rush hour. Then it wasn't quite so relaxing for a while trying to keep track of the kids.
I highly recommend this as a great way for a quick overview of the city. It also helps to burn off all those tapas and fried dishes that you'll be eating...
I love Papabubble!
After a morning of wandering around Barcelona, we headed to Papabubble, an artisan candy store that we had read about a few months ago. It was rather an unprepossessing storefront and if we hadn't been on a quest, I don't know that we would have stopped in.
But it was wonderful inside. Two employees were pulling a long mass of candy, white in the middle, green on the outside. We saw an order form with a hand drawn picture that showed the picture on the candy to say "Silvia & Carlos". It was a personalized wedding order. We watched them pull the candy, cut it off into 
long cylindrical sticks, roll them to cool off and then cut them into little individual hard candies. It was so much fun AND we got to have a sample as well - the writing on the candy was teeny but clear. I wish all the best for Silvia & Carlos with their clever candy choice.
After we watched them make candy for a while, it was hard to choose which flavors to buy - so we bought a few mixed bags. My favorite so far has been passionfruit, but many of the other flavors were excellent as well. And you can recognize the flavor quite easily - they use high quality ingredients.
We left with a bulging bag of candy and have since tried a number of other flavors. All in the name of tasting for this blog obviously! I want to go back tomorrow...
Monday, June 8, 2009
Greetings from Barcelona
We finally arrived at our apartment in Barcelona around 9:15 pm, to be met by a very nice man from Friendly Rentals, who checked us in and showed us around. We're in a lovely 2 bedroom place on the fourth floor of a grand old building. Our location cannot be beat - we are about 30 yards off Plaza Catalunya, the main square in Barcelona, right on Passeig de Gracia, a large tree-lined boulevard. With great shopping, I'm told. All in all, a perfect location for me.
The apartment is exactly like the description and photos - which is always a relief. Although I have to admit that all my rentals have turned out very well. You can take a look at it here.
We wandered outside about 10 pm to find some dinner and ended up at a rather touristy tapas bar across the street called Txapela, which served 51 different kinds of tapas (not including their desserts and daily specials). We had 17 little plates of the savory course and 2 for dessert. Considering we were all tired and jet-lagged, this turned out to be a great meal. My kids now like tapas rather a lot :) Our strategy was first to get 1 piece of lots of things, and then to re-order the ones we liked. It worked out very well!
The apartment is exactly like the description and photos - which is always a relief. Although I have to admit that all my rentals have turned out very well. You can take a look at it here.
We wandered outside about 10 pm to find some dinner and ended up at a rather touristy tapas bar across the street called Txapela, which served 51 different kinds of tapas (not including their desserts and daily specials). We had 17 little plates of the savory course and 2 for dessert. Considering we were all tired and jet-lagged, this turned out to be a great meal. My kids now like tapas rather a lot :) Our strategy was first to get 1 piece of lots of things, and then to re-order the ones we liked. It worked out very well!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
No Time to Blog!
It's been so hectic in the past couple of weeks. The last week of school combined with my starting a new project has meant that I've been swamped of late.I was in NYC a few days ago and was planning on a long detailed blog about the trip, but I need to pack for our departure for Barcelona tonight. Or at least finish all the laundry I'm doing. So you'll have to console yourself with a few highlights:
- my taxi tried to break all land-speed records getting me from JFK to Midtown, including hitting warp speed as the lights flashed by in the Midtown Tunnel
- I had a nice dinner at Momofuku Ssam Bar, sitting at the bar by myself, and had a fabulous dish of raw sliced hamachi with an edamame puree and little bits of crunchy seaweed scattered over the top. The chef David Chang has won all sorts of honors, and I've managed to experience 2 of his restaurants. Just 1 to go...
- my exercise consisted of a rapid 40 block walk (there and back) up to Dylan's Candy Bar on the Upper East Side. Dylan's has moved their cafe and party room up to the 2nd floor considerably expanding both the main floor and the basement area. More room for candy!
- my quick lunch was down in the basement of Grand Central Station in their "Dining Concourse" which was a very nice food court, where all the vendors were local or independent businesses. I had a nice slice from Two Boots pizzeria but was eyeing a lot of other potential stops, including an enormous salad from Juniors. I did end up with a scoop of gelato from Ciao Bella later in the day.
Today, as I realize we're leaving for the airport in 8 hours, I'll risk boring you with my priority list for the day, in no particular order.
- Water orchids
- Wonder if bringing 5 pairs of shoes is insane (in my defense, one pair is just flip flops for the pool, which really shouldn't count - and another is a pair of heels since I need to add a few days to the end of the trip for some business meetings)
- Hunt for sunblock
- Realize that kids are trying to bring the entire contents of their rooms crammed into a small backpack wheelie, and take half the things out of their wheelie. Check throughout day to ensure that said items are not surreptitiously snuck back into the wheelie.
- Laundry, laundry, laundry
- Stop by the local bowling alley to book younger daughter's birthday party in July. One month later than her birthday. Oh well - she'll celebrate her actual birthday in Spain. What kind of place doesn't allow you to book a party over the phone or online? You guessed it - a bowling alley!
- Conclude that adding 3 days of meetings to the end of a big family vacation trip is really much more effort than it's worth, now that I need to pack heels and multiple work outfits that will not be useful in the south of Spain. Not useful at all.
- Start mentally preparing myself for my first over-the-water trip in Economy class in 10 years. Really. Yes, I'm spoiled.
- Start preparing my children for their first over-the-water trip in Economy class ever. Really. Yes, they're spoiled.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Cooking at the Plumed Horse
I was lucky enough to be surprised by a private cooking class with chef Peter Armellino at the Plumed Horse in Saratoga last weekend. How many people can say they got a cooking class with a Michelin one-star chef for Mother's Day?!
After we arrived, we were given a quick tour of the restaurant, glasses of cava in hand. I hadn't been to the Plumed Horse since its remodel, but the main dining room is now beautiful in an understated, modern way (my memories from before was that it was a bit fusty). There was a chef's table with floor-to-ceiling views of the kitchen - I can't wait to dine there soon.
We started by looking at various items that Peter had picked up that morning at the Saratoga's farmer's market, including green garlic, fava beans, the ubiquitous local asparagus, as well as English peas. Peter showed us how to prepare them all for a spring vegetable risotto. Fava beans and the green garlic were new to me, so it was great to see how to use them. Unfortunately, they all had to be blanched separately (different cooking times) - not the favorite prep step for this lazy cook!
He went through the basics of risotto technique and had his sous-chef finish off that part of the cooking. He then added salt and pepper to a beautiful piece of halibut and pan cooked it with olive oil and lots of butter. In the meantime, more wine was poured and we started salivating at the thought of tasting the finished dish.
The risotto was perfectly creamy, yet with the requisite bite and not overwhelmed by a cheesy taste - in fact, we added no parmesan at all. Just some creme fraiche for the finishing touch. The halibut was tender and delicious. And super easy to prepare.
We then moved on to the dessert course, with chef Jon Kristie, who melted seemingly vast quantities of chocolate (Valrhona 72% disks) and butter in a double boiler. We were all relieved to find out that this would make about 70 servings of the chocolate fondant dessert for the restaurant's dinner service! The dessert was easy to make with just a few more ingredients (eggs, vanilla, sugar, flour) and was delicious with a molten center. It was served with a homemade vanilla ice cream.
I have to make a special note that the dessert wine poured was a Wehlener Sonnenuhr riesling which my normally teetotalling girlfriend enjoyed so much that she had 2 more glasses!
The whole class took about 90 minutes and we each left with a box full of ingredients to make 4 servings of the dishes we had sampled. And a bottle of cava (or in my girlfriend's case, her new favorite riesling!)
I thoroughly enjoyed the class and the conversations with Peter, Jon and Josh who ran the front-of-house. They mentioned that they make a white truffle risotto when the season starts in November - can't wait to try that as well! Plus Jon's special banana split dessert with caramelized bananas and homemade banana ice cream...mmmm
After we arrived, we were given a quick tour of the restaurant, glasses of cava in hand. I hadn't been to the Plumed Horse since its remodel, but the main dining room is now beautiful in an understated, modern way (my memories from before was that it was a bit fusty). There was a chef's table with floor-to-ceiling views of the kitchen - I can't wait to dine there soon.
We started by looking at various items that Peter had picked up that morning at the Saratoga's farmer's market, including green garlic, fava beans, the ubiquitous local asparagus, as well as English peas. Peter showed us how to prepare them all for a spring vegetable risotto. Fava beans and the green garlic were new to me, so it was great to see how to use them. Unfortunately, they all had to be blanched separately (different cooking times) - not the favorite prep step for this lazy cook!
He went through the basics of risotto technique and had his sous-chef finish off that part of the cooking. He then added salt and pepper to a beautiful piece of halibut and pan cooked it with olive oil and lots of butter. In the meantime, more wine was poured and we started salivating at the thought of tasting the finished dish.
The risotto was perfectly creamy, yet with the requisite bite and not overwhelmed by a cheesy taste - in fact, we added no parmesan at all. Just some creme fraiche for the finishing touch. The halibut was tender and delicious. And super easy to prepare.
We then moved on to the dessert course, with chef Jon Kristie, who melted seemingly vast quantities of chocolate (Valrhona 72% disks) and butter in a double boiler. We were all relieved to find out that this would make about 70 servings of the chocolate fondant dessert for the restaurant's dinner service! The dessert was easy to make with just a few more ingredients (eggs, vanilla, sugar, flour) and was delicious with a molten center. It was served with a homemade vanilla ice cream.I have to make a special note that the dessert wine poured was a Wehlener Sonnenuhr riesling which my normally teetotalling girlfriend enjoyed so much that she had 2 more glasses!
The whole class took about 90 minutes and we each left with a box full of ingredients to make 4 servings of the dishes we had sampled. And a bottle of cava (or in my girlfriend's case, her new favorite riesling!)I thoroughly enjoyed the class and the conversations with Peter, Jon and Josh who ran the front-of-house. They mentioned that they make a white truffle risotto when the season starts in November - can't wait to try that as well! Plus Jon's special banana split dessert with caramelized bananas and homemade banana ice cream...mmmm
Monday, May 11, 2009
Mother's Day Brunch at Madera
We tried out the restaurant at the brand new Rosewood Hotel on Sand Hill Rd in Menlo Park yesterday. This is part of a huge complex of offices at the corner of Sand Hill and 280. Although I didn't find the architecture of the hotel very appealing, the interiors were modern and comfortable, with a gorgeous bar area with a patio with views of the hills. I could see this as a great place for drinks at sunset.
The restaurant Madera was quite large and for some reason, our party of 8 was shown to a nice private room with an outdoor patio with a fireplace. It would be nice for a dinner party or intimate shower.
The menu was a $65 prix fixe for Mother's Day, which was a little pricey for the area, but the restaurant is an upscale choice. It included a glass of bubbly, which was actually a Spanish cava.
I started with a great salad of purple asparagus and grilled trumpet mushrooms. The mushrooms was very tasty, although it was served with a soft cheese and was a little unnecessary. I'd go back for this salad alone.
Another nice appetizer was the spring pea soup - very light but with a full pea flavor.
For the entree, I decided to go for the New York steak (seemed like a waste to get Belgian waffles when it was a $65 prix fixe!). There was a bit of a gap in service so I was very hungry when the entree was served. So I started eating right away and forgot to take photos... My dining mates had the Eggs Benedict (served either with salmon or canadian bacon), which was pronounced to be pretty good.
For dessert, I had the ricotta cheesecake served with balsamic strawberries. Nice but nothing to write home about. My daughter had a chocolate terrine, served with grilled brioche - it turned out to be a spreadable chocolate and was like a fancy version of nutella and toast. The dessert winner was a sour cherry almond cake, served with a sour cream ice cream.
And they served an excellent Earl Grey in a nice french press. Top marks for the tea service.
Overall, I don't think this is a destination restaurant by any means, although the space is beautiful. The service pacing was not the best. But it's a beautiful space and in a location where it will get lots of corporate business. If you're in the area, have a drink at the bar.
The restaurant Madera was quite large and for some reason, our party of 8 was shown to a nice private room with an outdoor patio with a fireplace. It would be nice for a dinner party or intimate shower.
The menu was a $65 prix fixe for Mother's Day, which was a little pricey for the area, but the restaurant is an upscale choice. It included a glass of bubbly, which was actually a Spanish cava.
I started with a great salad of purple asparagus and grilled trumpet mushrooms. The mushrooms was very tasty, although it was served with a soft cheese and was a little unnecessary. I'd go back for this salad alone.
Another nice appetizer was the spring pea soup - very light but with a full pea flavor.
For the entree, I decided to go for the New York steak (seemed like a waste to get Belgian waffles when it was a $65 prix fixe!). There was a bit of a gap in service so I was very hungry when the entree was served. So I started eating right away and forgot to take photos... My dining mates had the Eggs Benedict (served either with salmon or canadian bacon), which was pronounced to be pretty good.
For dessert, I had the ricotta cheesecake served with balsamic strawberries. Nice but nothing to write home about. My daughter had a chocolate terrine, served with grilled brioche - it turned out to be a spreadable chocolate and was like a fancy version of nutella and toast. The dessert winner was a sour cherry almond cake, served with a sour cream ice cream.
And they served an excellent Earl Grey in a nice french press. Top marks for the tea service.
Overall, I don't think this is a destination restaurant by any means, although the space is beautiful. The service pacing was not the best. But it's a beautiful space and in a location where it will get lots of corporate business. If you're in the area, have a drink at the bar.
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